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CDF^RIGHT DEPOSm 



NEW TESTAMENT 
EVANGELISM 

A Series of Addresses on Evangelistic 
Preaching, Music and Methods 

By 

JESSE R. KELLEMS, B.D., D.D. 

An Evangelist of the Churches of Christ 

Author of "The Deity of Jesus/' 

"Glorying in the Cross/' etc. 



"But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, 
do the work of an evangelist, fulfil th^ ministry," 

-2 Tim. 4:5. 



CINCINNATI. O. 

THE STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY 



Copyright, 1922 
The Standard Publishing Company 

Printed in U.S. A. ^0 



^-^V 



JUN -2 1922 

©CI.A677000 



DEDICATION 

To the memory of my father, 

DAVID CLINTON KELLEMS, B. D., D. D., 

For twenty-two years professor in the Eugene 

Bible University and for thirty-five years a 

minister of Christ, who in the prime of 

his life was called to his eternal home, 

this Volume is lovingly dedicated. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 9 

Introduction 13 

Words of Appreciation 15 

I. 

The Need of New Testament Evangelism To-day. 

I. The Need for New Testament Evangelism Is 
Manifest When We Consider the Substitutes 
Which We Have Unsuccessfully Tried in Its 

Place „ 20 

II. The Need for New Testament Evangelism Is 
Manifest When We Consider the Condition 
of the World To-day 22 

III. The Value of Such a Course as This Is Really 

Self-evident 23 

IV. It Is Our Plan to Make This Course Prac- 

tical .„ ™ __. 29 

V. The Value of the Kind of Instruction Which 
We Here Advocate Has Long Been Rec- 
ognized 31 

VI. There Are Many Evidences of an Awakening 
Spirit of Evangelism among the Churches 
of Christ 32 

II. 

Qualifications and Training of the New Testa- 
ment Evangelist. 

I. The Qualifications of the New Testament 

Evangelist 34 

II. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 
Man of Broad General Culture and Fine 
Technical Training 42 



6 Contents 

III. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 

Powerful Preacher of the Word 47 

IV. The New Testament Evangelist Must be Pos- 
sessed of a Strong, Magnetic Personality. 49 
V. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be 

Willing to Work Long and Arduously 59 

VI. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 

Christian of the Highest Type 60 

VII. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 

Man with Strong, Burning Convictions 68 

VIII. The New Testament Evangelist Must Pos- 
sess the Quality of Generalship 77 

IX. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be 
One Who Is Willing to Work in the 

Humbler Sphere 80 

X. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be 

Possessed of Imagination 82 

XI. The New Testament Evangelist Must Pos- 
sess the Power of Moving Men to Action. 90 

III. 

The Preparation for the Meeting. 

I. Preparing the Minister 96 

II. Preparing the Church 102 

III. Preparing the Community „ 114 

IV. 

The Preaching in the Meeting. 

I. The Place of Preaching in the Evangelistic 

Meeting 132 

II. What Should Be Preached in a Meeting !..... 135 

III. How Should Doctrine Be Preached? 160 

IV. The Arrangement of the Sermons for the 

Meeting „ 170 

V. A Suggested Arrangement of Sermons for 

a Meeting of Six Weeks 183 

VI. The Use of Charts in the Meeting 185 



Contents 7 



V. 

The Song Evangelist, and the Music of the 
Meeting. 

I. The Song Evangelist „ 191 

II. The Music of the Meeting 202 

III. The Special Musical Numbers of the Meeting. 226 

IV. The Invitation Song 233 

VI. 
The Bible School and New Testament Evangelism. 

I. The Bible School as an Evangelistic Field 240 

II. The Bible-school Invitation 249 

VII. 

Personal Work in the Meeting. 

I. The Necessity for Personal Work 260 

II. Some Qualifications Which the Personal 

Worker Should Possess 267 

III. The Training of the Personal Worker 270 

IV. Who Should Do Personal Work in a Meet- 
ing? _ 277 

V. Where Should Personal Work Be Done? 287 

VIII. 

Financing the Meeting. 

I. The Two General Plans Which Are Usually- 
Followed in Financing a Meeting 296 

II. The Salary of Evangelists. 303 

III. A Suggested Plan for Financing a Meeting 310 

IX. 

The Conduct op an Evangelistic Service. 

I. The Preparation of the Building for the 

Evangelistic Service 321 

II. The Proper Seating of the Audience 325 



8 Contents 

III. The Entrance of the Chorus > 331 

IV. Eeceiving the New Additions 342 

V. The Baptismal Service ..„ 346 

VI. After Meetings _ „ 355 

X. 

Conserving the Convert. 

I. Some Plans to Be Followed by the Evan- 
gelist During the Meeting. 361 

II. Some Plans to Be Followed by the Pastor 

and the Church after the Meeting Closes 369 

Bibliographical Notes 381 



PREFACE 

THE work of the general evangelist is the most 
strenuous of all forms of Christian service. 
There is no effort in the kingdom of our Lord which 
makes such constant and insistent demands upon the 
time and energies of the worker. Amid the con- 
tinual press of details, the strain and labor which go 
to make up the modern, successful campaign, it is a 
very difficult thing for the evangelist so to compose 
himself that he can give the proper consideration to 
literary things. It is for this reason that there is 
found to-day a dearth of evangelistic literature. The 
evangelist, the one who from experience is most ade- 
quately prepared to produce such a literature, has 
been too busy out on the firing-line of the battle to 
take the time necessary for the needed work. He is 
a soldier, and he has been so busy doing the thing 
that he has not had the time to tell about it. 

Some very fine works have been written, and some 
very definite research has been done in this field, but 
as a rule the emphasis has generally been confined to 
the preaching in the evangelistic meeting, or to some 
lines of personal endeavor. Many evangelistic ser- 
mons have been published, and while these are always 
of great value to the one who desires to be a winner 
of souls, yet, after all, but one phase of the evangelist 's 
work has been considered. As far as the knowledge 



10 Preface 

of the author extends, the present volume is the first 
attempt to deal in a scientific way with the whole 
field of New Testament evangelism. 

When, early in 1920, the author received an invita- 
tion from the president of the Eugene Bible University 
to deliver a course of ten lectures before the Faculty 
and students of that splendid institution, he accepted 
the honor with profound satisfaction and genuine 
pleasure. It had long been his conviction that the 
colleges and seminaries have not been training evan- 
gelists. The very things needed by the soul-winner 
are all too often lacking in the average college or 
seminary course. The greatest work in the world cer- 
tainly should have a scientific consideration from those 
whose business it is to send out into the fields laborers 
for the harvest. While, therefore, the author does not 
for a moment pretend to be a professor, and while 
he has realized that in this realm he must largely 
do the work of the pioneer, yet the attempt is gladly 
made to at least partially supply an urgent need, 
with the hope that the present effort will be but the 
beginning, and that from it may grow up a rich liter- 
ature dealing with the practical things of New Testa- 
ment evangelism, for the practical work of the evan- 
gelist calls for a practical training. 

I feel here that I must express my thanks to two 
friends who have aided me in many ways, especially 
in the address on ''The Song Evangelist and New 
Testament Evangelism." Prof. C. H. Hohgatt and 
Prof. C. H. Richards, with both of whom I have had 
the privilege to be associated in evangelistic endeavor, 
by their many suggestions have helped me materially 
in bringing the work into its present form. 



Preface 11 

I must also acknowledge my debt of gratitude to 
Pres. E. C. Sanderson, of the Eugene Bible Univer- 
sity, for the kind invitation which gave the oppor- 
tunity for the composition of these studies, and to 
Dr. A. W. Fortune, of the College of the Bible, for 
the delightful honor of being allowed to redeliver 
them in. the same room where for so many years the 
sainted John W. McGarvey proclaimed the ''truth as 
it is in Christ,'' to students from every English- 
speaking nation on the globe. 

In the sincere hope that this volume may assist 
in more thoroughly equipping some brother or sister 
in the Lord for the glorious work of bringing the lost 
from ''darkness to light and from the power of Satan 
unto God," the author prayerfully sends it forth. 

J. R. K. 

San Antonio, Texas, Christmas Day, 1921. 



INTRODUCTION 

THE ten lectures found in this book, when delivered 
before the Faculty and students of the Eugene 
Bible University, were attended by an average audience 
of about three hundred. I never saw audiences more 
attentive and more deeply interested. All who have 
heard Jesse E. Kellems preach the gospel in his great 
evangelistic meetings know the reason why he is recog- 
nized as one of the most popular and effective ministers 
and evangelists in the churches of Christ in the United 
States, and a scholar of acknowledged ability. 

It has been my privilege to be intimately acquainted 
with the author since he was seven years of age. He 
frequently stated when he was just a small boy, that 
he was going to be a preacher. I don't think he has 
ever wavered from that early childhood decision. It 
seems to me he is naturally a born preacher. His 
father and mother, David C. and Louise F. Kellems, 
are both natural orators and able ministers of the 
Word of life. During the seven or eight years of 
Dr. Kellems' undergraduate and graduate work in 
the Eugene Bible University and the University of 
Oregon, he was always a kind, faithful and high-grade 
student. These lectures show with what loyalty to 
the Word of God, and with what clearness and force, 
he can present the teaching and divine authority of 
the Bible with reference to the plan of salvation, the 
Christian life and the whole message and work of 
the church. 

This book will be of great value for pastors, 
church officers, evangelists, missionaries and for any 

13 



14 Introduction 

Christian home. It is also well adapted as a text- 
book for church schools and colleges, and for classes 
in the churches for personal workers. 

The threefold doctrinal, spiritual and practical 
content of the book may be summarized as follows: 

1. The supreme authority of Christ in New Testa- 
ment evangelism. 

2. Christ's program for His church. 

3. The divine strength and leading Christian work- 
ers may receive from the presence and power of the 
Holy Spirit in the church. 

4. The place and necessity of prayer in the Chris- 
tian life and in Christian service. 

5. How the New Testament teaches the spirit and 
necessity of unity among all the believers in Christ 
everywhere in order to speedily and faithfully evan- 
gelize the whole world under the leading of Christ, 
who is the rightful ruler of all nations and every 
human heart. 

6. Seed thoughts for ministers and other speakers 
and personal workers. 

7. Practical methods in all kinds of church work. 
May every one who reads these lectures know that 

the human heart can not conceive of anything so 
noble and blessed as the spirit and purpose of New 
Testament evangelism. May each one of the many 
thousands who will read this book be impressed with 
the fact that it is a message straight from God 
through His precious Word as found in the New 
Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and 
from a heart full of love for his fellow-men. 

Eugene C. Sanderson. 
President's Office, Eugene Bible University. 



WORDS OF APPRECIATION 

THE following addresses on evangelistic preacliing, 
music and methods were delivered before the 
Faculty and students of the Eugene Bible University 
at Eugene, Ore., in January, 1921, and before the 
Faculty and students of the College of the Bible at 
Lexington, Ky., in October, 1921. The two letters of 
appreciation which follow will give an idea of the re- 
ception accorded them: 

Eugene, Ore., Feb. 15, 1921. 

Jesse R. Kellems, Jacksonville, Fla.: 

Dear Bro. Kellems — We wish to sincerely and enthusiastically 
thank you for your splendid series of addresses on "New Testa- 
ment Evangelisrti, " which were recently delivered at the Bible 
College. They have resulted in uplift and blessing to us in every 
way. The students in every Bible college and every pastor and 
evangelist and every Christian worker in the churches of Christ 
throughout the world should have the privilege of either hearing 
or reading these lectures. They contain and express so much 
Scripture teaching and so many valuable and practical sugges- 
tions for the Christian worker that the churches of Christ cer- 
tainly have nothing equal to them in oux literature. 

Again thanking you for your kindness, and wishing you con- 
tinued success in your noble work, we are, sir. 

Yours fraternally. Executive Committee. 

J. H. Daniels, Pres. Board of Trustees. 
Harry Benton, Sec. 

Faculty : 

E. C. Sanderson, David C. Kellers, Victor E. Hoven, Elmer 
E. Patterson, S. Earl Clulders, Walter L. Myers. 

15 



16 Words of Appreciation 

College of the Bible, Lexington, Ky., Jan. 3, 1922. 
Jesse B. Kellems, Long Beach, Calif.: 

Beur Bro. Eellems — I am requested by the Faculty of the 
College of the Bible to express to you our sincere appreciation 
of the admirable course of lectures which you delivered at the 
college recently, and to thank you heartily for them. 

Your lectures were clear, well organized and forceful, and con- 
tained constructive and stimulating suggestions in the field that 
needs much to be covered in the preparation of young men for 
the ministry. 

Again thanking you for your valuable service to the college, 
and with every good wish, I am Very cordially yours, 

W. C. Bowee. 



NEW TESTAMENT EVANGEUSM 



17 



I 

THE NEED OF NEW TESTAMENT EVANGELISM 
TO-DAY 

IT is a difficult thing for me to express my delight 
to-day as I stand once more amid scenes that 
have long been dear to me in the joyous past. It 
is a privilege of which I am deeply appreciative, to 
address the Faculty and students of this our beloved 
alma mater on the great theme of ''New Testament 
Evangelism." It is a happy hour when we can renew 
old acquaintances and see once more the faces of 
those who have with us studied and toiled in these 
historic halls, I am also filled with almost a sense 
of awe as I think of the truly epochal thing we are 
doing this day. For it is not alone to you that these 
lectures wiU be delivered, but also to thousands of 
our brethren all over the world. What we are doing 
now will be done by countless others, who, realizing 
more and more the importance of a scientific study 
of this ever-interesting and fundamentally important 
theme, will follow in our footsteps. We are pioneers 
in this field. None have trod it before us. To us is 
given the joyous duty of blazing the way, the way in 
which multitudes of others will walk to a higher and 
nobler conception of the greatest work ever given to 
man, the work of speeding the great evangel to all 
the sons and daughters of men. 

19 



20 New Testament Evangelism 

Wliat do we mean by the term ''New Testament 
evangelism"? We mean that evangelism which is 
based upon the model of the New Testament. In 
that evangelism the preaching of the gospel message 
was the central feature of the work. Mechanics were 
secondary, and the focal point of all was the delivery 
of a strong message of truth. The New Testament 
evangelist was not a philosopher; he was not a 
theorist; he was first and foremost a witness of the 
truth and a bearer of a great and tremendously 
important message. It is this type of evangelism that 
is needed in the world to-day. Only when we return 
to the evangelism of the New Testament will we be 
able to build strong churches and save the world from 
its sins. 

I. The Need for New Testament Evangelism Is 
Manifest When We Consider the Substitutes 
Which We Have Unsuccessfully Tried 
IN Its Place. 

(1) We have tried to substitute a program of 
education for one of evangelism. 

All of us believe with all our hearts in the great 
necessity of religious education. Where we have 
failed is in our attempt to make this take the place 
of evangelism. While, through education, we do 
reach the young, or, at least, those who attend our 
Bible schools, yet we fail to reach the great 
unchurched world of men and women who have 
reached maturity, many of them without a chance 
to attend a Bible school. In many places, through 
education, we have reached the boys and girls of 
families that are unchristian, but the parents are 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 21 

still out of the kingdom. While education has its 
place, and while that place is indeed a large and 
fundamentally important one, yet it can not take the 
place of an educational evangelism of the New 
Testament type. Instead of taking its place, it 
will rather work hand in hand with the efforts along 
evangelistic lines. 

(2) We have tried to substitute an evangelism of 
mechanics for one which centers in strong gospel 
preaching. 

We have gone to the extreme, as we Americans 
generally do, in that we have specialized in machinery 
rather than in preaching. It is an efficient age in 
which we live, and we have copied this spirit in our 
evangelistic work in that we have formed great com- 
panies and have tried to make methods win men 
rather than the truth. With a rise in the number 
of methods there has been a corresponding decline 
in the efficiency of the gospel preacher. We believe 
in methods, but we decry the substitution of these 
methods for the message. Many of our evangelists 
have been so busy running the machinery that they 
have had no time for preaching. The average 
evangelistic sermon in the last few years has been 
simply an exhortation. Great numbers of personal 
workers have gone out into the audience and have 
dragged men to the front. The whole affair many 
times has reminded one of an auction sale rather 
than an evangelistic meeting. Campaigns of this type 
have not only failed to win men to Christ, and to 
make real Christians, but they have so disgusted 
many of the churches with evangelism that a great 
period of stagnation has inevitably followed. We 



22 New Testament Evangelism 

need a return to great gospel preaching. We need 
to develop real preachers of the Word, and while 
we should use mechanics with discretion, yet they 
must never be substituted for the message. 

(3) We have tried to substitute the so-called union 
meeting for New Testament evangelism. 

In the same graveyard with the numerous fads 
that many well-meaning brethren have tried has been 
buried this unsightly and unseemly carcass. And well 
is it so. It has never accomplished the end which 
its devotees have hoped for it. Instead of bringing 
about Christian union, it has served only to per- 
petuate denominationalism, for it has ever been simply 
and solely an apology for the denominational system. 
Even our own brethren who have gone into it have 
been bitterly disappointed in the real results which 
have come from their efforts. They have simply made 
five denominationalists where they have made one 
''Christian only.'' Their mouths have been closed on 
many of the great and vital principles of the gospel of 
Christ, and even in methods they have had to follow 
the plan of the denominational world. We need a re- 
turn to a great evangelism in which, with the freedom 
which only the New Testament evangelist can have, 
we may declare the whole counsel of God. 

II. The Need for New Testament Evangelism Is 

Manifest When We Consider the Condition 

OF THE World To-day. 

(1) The condition of the world industrially and 
politically enforces this contention. 

There is no power that can solve the problems of 
a war-weary world save the power of the gospel 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 23 

of the Lord Jesus Christ. After trying every solution 
known to the minds of men, we are turning our tired 
gaze toward the cross of Calvary, and there are we 
finding the gleam of hope amidst the encircling gloom. 
There is but one way to combat the terrible wave of 
materialism which has been sweeping our country, 
bringing with it all the crimes which have been 
striking terror to the hearts of the nation, and that 
is by the power of a great spiritual awakening. From 
every pulpit in the land to-day there should go forth 
a stirring evangelistic message, for only in this can 
there be hope for the world. What an opportunity! 
Will we embrace it? 

(2) The condition of the religious world enforces 
this contention. 

While there has been apparently a strengthening 
of denominational ties and a rebuilding of denomina- 
tional walls, yet it is a fact that the creeds have long 
been crumbling, and men are thinking to-day as they 
have never thought before of the wickedness and use- 
lessness of division among the people of God. Now 
is our time, not to surrender the very thing of which 
they are so in need, but, in the spirit of Him who 
gave it to us, to proclaim it with all the earnestness 
and power at our command. The God of battles will 
hold us responsible for the way in which we act 
in this great hour of the world's history. 

III. ThE' Value of Such a Course as This Is 
Really Self-evident. 

(1) It will meet a crying need. 
That we need some scientific treatment of this 
subject has long been recognized. Young men who 



24 New Testament Evangelism 

wish to be real soul-winners find, after their training 
in college and seminary, that they are but half pre- 
pared for their work. They know the facts of history, 
the methods of science, they are acquainted with the 
beauties of literature, they are trained in the theory 
of the Scriptures, and sometimes to-day even in the 
contents of the Word, but they are at sea in the 
realm of the practical. If I might be permitted 
to make a reverent criticism of the work of our theo- 
logical schools, it would be this: we are concerned 
so much with the knowledge content that we have 
sadly neglected the practical, and that at the cost 
of the souls of men. This has not only been true 
in the realm of soul-winning, but it lies also as a 
criticism at the doors of those who have tried, and 
earnestly too, to prepare pastors for the church of 
Christ. Many of our local ministers have been edu- 
cated away from the people with whom they are to 
labor. They have been so much in their books that 
they are not in touch with men when they go out to 
carry the luggage of a sin-burdened world. They 
do not know how to make a pastoral call, to perform 
a marriage ceremony, or to bury the dead. They 
make the act of baptism, instead of a beautiful thing, 
an act which is positively ridiculous and revolting. 
While, perhaps, they are able to preach big sermons, 
yet they often ruin the effect of those same sermons 
because they are unacquainted with some of the laws 
of common etiquette. And how crying is this need 
for a practical teaching in the special field of soul- 
winning. Suppose a local minister wishes to hold 
an evangelistic meeting in his own field of labor. To 
whom shall he go for instruction regarding the how 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 25 

of doing the work? How shall he arrange his ser- 
mons for the effort, what shall he preach, how shall 
he find those in the community who need his message, 
and how can he get them to hear that message? 
There are no answers to these questions save those 
which he must discover in his own blundering expe- 
rience, for the majority of us who are supposed to 
know at least some of these things have really blun- 
dered onto them. While we may have had a few 
lectures on the general theme, yet as a rule they have 
been given by those who did not themselves work the 
plans they have advocated, nor could they have 
worked them even had the chance been given. 

I wish to say frankly and with considerable pride 
that I think this criticism lies with less force at the 
door of our own alma mater. I believe that she is 
the most practical of our Bible colleges to-day. That 
she may continue to emphasize this necessary side of 
the preacher's education is my constant prayer, for 
only thus can she truly give to young men and women 
that training which will make them efficient servants 
of the Most High. Let us trust that this pioneer 
effort to study the whole general field of New Testa- 
ment evangelism may be but one small contribution 
in the great flood of literature which shall follow, 
dealing with all the phases of this question so funda- 
mental in the ongoings of the kingdom of God. 

(2) Such a course as this will also act as a stim- 
ulus to evangelistic effort. 

There are many men to-day who would be stressing 
soul-winning in their pulpits if they knew how to do 
the work. That the winning of souls is the preacher's 
business is patent to any one who has made a careful 



26 . New Testament Evangelism 

study of the New Testament Scriptures. It is not 
our business to entertain men; it is not our business 
to merely teach them the truth; but it is our business 
to build manhood by getting men to accept that truth 
and make it a part of their lives. While the preacher 
is a teacher of the Word of life, he is more. Beecher 
put it in unmistakable language. When speaking of 
the work of the preacher, he said: **It is not enough 
that men should know, they must be." How true! 
It is our business as ministers of the Word to be 
concerned with facts, but only so far as they can 
become life. The main business, therefore, of the 
preacher is **to do the work of an evangelist," for 
really all preachers of the gospel of Christ must be 
evangelists. And surely they should be trained, as 
far as training will be of value, in the ''how" of 
doing that work. A work in which that training will 
be given, even though it come in the form of but a 
few suggestions, will stimulate evangelistic effort, 
for it will make possible a work that before has been 
impossible, for the reason that many have not known 
how to go about it. 

That Bible-school institutes and Bible-school liter- 
ature have revolutionized the work of tlpie Bible school 
is evident. Not only so, but this scientific considera- 
tion of the training of our boys and girls in the 
Word of God and the morals of the Christian life 
has aided powerfully in the phenomenal growth that 
we have witnessed in the Bible schools in recent years. 
That this same effect will be produced by scientific 
instruction in the art of soul-winning and the produc- 
tion of an evangelistic literature is surely the only 
logical conclusion. 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 27 

(3) A course in New Testament evangelism will 
have a tendency to dignify the work of the evangelist. 

In the main, the evangelist has been looked upon 
as a strange individual, one who perhaps is a sensa- 
tionalist, without any special training for his work, 
but who has a special gift for stirring up the souls 
of men and getting them to act. Because of some 
of the disgusting stunts which men of this type have 
employed in the past, the very name ''evangelist" 
often provokes a smile. A careful training in this 
work will certainly tend to dignify the work of soul- 
winning in the eyes of the best men and women of 
the community. As the trained physician is looked 
upon with greater reverence because of his training, 
so will the man who has been prepared for the noblest 
work in the world receive greater consideration and 
be held in greater respect. 

(4) A course in New Testament evangelism will 
increase the efficiency of our present soul-winners. 

Many good men, because of strong personalities, 
are making a fine success in spite of the fact that 
they make grievous mistakes. If these mistakes can 
be corrected, it is logical to assume that the efficiency 
of those who make them will be quite materially 
increased. One of our splendid, loyal evangelists 
recently began a meeting in an Eastern city with a 
sermon on the subject, ''What Must I Do to Be 
Saved?" The people of his audience were not ready 
for any such sermon, and, as far as the meeting was 
concerned, it was really wasted. If he had had some 
training on the proper arrangement of sermons for 
an evangelistic campaign, this mistake would not have 
been made. Many of the younger evangelists are 



28 New Testament Evangelism 

making mistakes in the realm of etiquette, wliicli not 
only offend the sensibilities of the best people, but 
actually cost them many conversions. We have 
every reason to believe that even those who are 
already doing good work could and would do better 
work if they had some such course as we propose 
in this season together. 

My own personal desire for this work, young 
friends, is that it may become a permanent founda- 
tion, and that not one year may go by without some 
strong and successful man of God being called to 
this institution to deliver lectures on this absorb- 
ing theme. Are we looking ahead too far when we 
say we hope that it may not only become a lecture- 
ship, but that eventually it may evolve into a pro- 
fessorship in which men may specialize for the task 
of winning the lost to the Lord Jesus Christ? While 
I am almost startled when I think how many are the 
things which I have to say to you, and that concern- 
ing so many of them you will say that they are old 
and that you have heard them before, yet I do believe 
that this field is sufficiently important and that its 
scope is sufficiently large that a professorship of this 
kind would sers-e a great and crying need. I have 
dreamed of this institution out here in our wonderful 
Western land as the great and shining light in the 
realm of evangelism. That our Bible College may 
be known from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from 
the Gulf to Canada as the greatest evangelistic school 
in the brotherhood has been with me a consuming 
passion. Because of the fact that this ideal is so 
dear to my heart, I esteem it a real privilege that I 
have in delivering the first lectures in the series of 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 29 

the great and increasingly interesting line which shall 
in future years be given in these halls. 

IV. It Is Our Plan to Make This Course Practical. 

You will very soon discover that the material with 
which we shall deal is not to be found in books. There 
are suggestions, of course, which will be rich and 
fruitful of thought that may be gathered from the 
works on preaching which have been delivered on the 
various foundations, but those things of a practical 
nature will not be found in any scientific form, at 
least in the writings of the great soul- winners. While 
we have created a varied and wonderfully rich liter- 
ature dealing with the various phases of the pastorate, 
and while we have written largely concerning the 
work of the Bible school, yet we have created prac- 
tically no literature at all dealing with the methods 
of soul-winning. Perhaps the reason for this may be 
discovered in the fact that those who are best prepared 
to give us such a literature have been so busily 
engaged with the pressing details of their evangelistic 
service that they have not had the time to write of 
these things. Many times, too, it is true that though 
one may be a great soul-winner, he does not have the 
ability to write clearly and entertainingly of the 
secrets of his own power. Whatever the reason may 
have been, the fact is easily recognized that we have 
really no literature at all which will tell us the **how" 
of New Testament evangelism. 

We must frankly acknowledge that the material 
for these discussions has been gathered largely through 
the experiences of a somewhat extensive evangelistic 
ministry. Your speaker was forced to learn how to 



30 New Testament Evangelism 

evangelize after he had finished his college and semi- 
nary work. The lessons that were learned were very 
costly in souls, and for this we have often been sin- 
cerely sorry, for we had to learn by making mistakes. 
If there seems to be a frequency of personal reference 
in these talks, which at times borders onto egotism, 
please remember that we are dealing with experience, 
and, in the words of Beecher, ** experience is always 
egotism." The only claim to any serious considera- 
tion which these discussions may have lies in the fact 
that they are not the ethereal wanderings of a dream- 
ing theorist, but rather the sober experiences of one 
who has tried continually to do the work of an evan- 
gelist as the great Master of us all would have him 
do it. Every plan to be submitted has been tried, 
and tried repeatedly, and found to be sound at heart. 
While we would not for a moment have you slavishly 
copy, or try to imitate, all these plans, we do believe 
that there are principles underlying them which you 
would do well to make a part of yourselves. 

I would not have you understand me to say that 
we believe evangelists can be made by reading books 
or by hearing lectures delivered by one who may have 
been used of God in winning many to the Lord. 
Experience is always the greatest teacher. We never 
forget her lessons, though at times great is the tuition 
we pay her. If I were to offer a prayer for you, who 
hear me, this day, I think I would couch it in the 
words of the lamented President Zollars: "Lord, give 
them a hard time." The tree that stands on the edge 
of the hill and is buffeted by the howling winds of 
winter is the material out of which the good spoke 
timber is made. Those ministers in life who grow up 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 31 

in the shady places, guarded and petted, are never 
the great winners of souls. If you really do the 
work of an evangelist, you must have that experience 
which alone can give you the fiber needed to make 
you to stand strong and true in the battles which you 
must fight as a representative of the Lord of hosts. 

V. The Value of the Kind of Instruction Which 
We Here Advocate, Has Long Been Recognized. 

Conspicuously illustrative of this contention is that 
lectureship to which we have already referred, "The 
Lyman Beecher Lectureship on Preaching," at Yale 
University. As we have before noted, this deals with 
the work of the pastor, and through the years it has 
furnished a great and suggestive literature in this 
field. The fact that we as a brotherhood have estab- 
lished at Indianapolis a College of Missions, where 
those who are to go out to the lands across the sea 
to tell the "Old Story" may be trained in those 
things that have to do particularly with the work of 
the missionary, is a fine evidence of the fact that 
more and more are we realizing the value of the 
practical in ministerial training. In most of our 
Bible Colleges to-day chairs of practical theology have 
been instituted, and while they are as a rule still 
weak, and in some cases positively inefficient, yet this 
is a step in the right direction. Bible-school institutes 
and schools of methods, and the establishment of 
lectureships and professorships of religious education 
in our colleges and universities, show clearly that this 
realization that we must train our workers in the 
practical application of the knowledge content, which 
we have so studiously cultivated, has dawned with 



32 New Testament Evarigelism 

convincing force upon the minds of those who con- 
stitute the leadership in Christian work. In one 
great Eastern university a whole department of 
religious education has been organized, empowered 
to give graduate instruction and with a curriculum 
leading to the degree of Master of Religious Educa- 
tion. That but a few years will elapse until a similar 
department in the realm of New Testament evan- 
gelism will be found in every Bible college and semi- 
nary of our brotherhood is the solemn conviction of 
the one who addresses you to-day. 

VI. There Are Many Evidences of an Awakening 

Spirit of Evangelism Among the Churches 

OF Christ. 

We are sadly cognizant of the fact that for many 
years the spirit of evangelism has been slumber- 
ing; but to-day it is awakening into new life, and 
all over the land an increased interest in a real and 
vital presentation of the great, stirring evangelistic 
truth is being manifest. More campaigns are being 
held, not only by those who are engaged exclusively 
in the general evangelistic field, but by the pastors 
of the churches as well. Men who have not held an 
evangelistic campaign for years, and many who have 
not preached an evangelistic sermon for years, are 
now exchanging meetings with neighboring pastors 
or are calling in, to assist them, men from the general 
field. And it is the New Testament type of evan- 
gelism that they want. The man who specialized in 
the claptrap methods of the dark ages of evangelism 
is being frozen out, and only men who are of 
unstained reputation are being called. Larger num- 



Need of New Testament Evangelism 33 

bers of people are being converted than have been 
brought to Christ for years. The audiences are larger 
and more general interest is being manifested. One 
other accomplishment which has powerfully helped 
to stir this spirit has been the discrediting of the 
so-called destructive, higher criticism. The negative 
preacher is not wanted, but only that one who has a 
burning, positive message for men. And this awaken- 
ing spirit is not being felt by our brethren alone. 
The great denominational bodies are reporting a 
revival of interest in their communions, and extensive 
campaigns are being planned by those who for years 
have been positively anti-evangelistic. The spirit of 
revival is in the air, and we are confident that the 
next few years will witness a wonderful turning 
to God, and a glorious revival of spiritual life. The 
pendulum has swung far toward the rocks of mate- 
rialism, but it is now swinging back toward the sweet 
and beautiful hills of the life that is hid with Christ 
in God. The institution of a secretaryship of evan- 
gelism in our own brotherhood is a forward step 
which will be productive of greater co-ordination of 
our evangelistic activities, of a more lofty dignity 
for the work itself and of a more widespread interest 
in that which, without a doubt, is the greatest work 
that can be done by mortal man. 



II 

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING OF THE 
NEW TESTAMENT EVANGELIST 

THEEE is no better way to begin this study of 
New Testament evangelism than to consider the 
qualifications and the training of the man in whom 
the work of New Testament evangelism is to center — 
the evangelist himself. The different offices in the 
church of Christ demand different qualities of char- 
acter and personality. The work of the deacon is 
very different from that of the minister of the flock, 
and demands different qualities of personality. So, 
since there are certain well-defined qualities which 
are characteristically those of an evangelist, it is well 
that the ones who are considering this field of labor 
should know just what those qualities are. 

I. The Qualifications of the New Testament 
Evangelist. 

1. He Must Be Possessed of Robust Health. 

(1) The absolute necessity of it in evangelistic 
work. 

There is no department of Christian service which 
demands so much energy as the department of New 
Testament evangelism. There is absolutely no room 
in this work for the man of weak body and poor 
health. The strain of preaching every night, and 

34 



Qualifications and Training 35 

preaching with greater zeal and power than one would 
use in the work of the regular pastorate; the strain 
of incessant personal work; the great number of 
meetings which the evangelist must attend — all these 
things impose a tremendous burden upon the physical 
resources of the man who is to be a winner of souls. 
If he is to stand up under it, he must be a veritable 
human dynamo. 

(2) The meaning of good health. 

When we speak of good health we do not mean 
merely that a man is not sick; that he does not pos- 
sess some chronic disease. Good health means that 
he has that reserve fund of energy which is the result 
of all his bodily powers working together smoothly. 
It means that condition of body and mind which is 
an urge continually to do the utmost for the extension 
of the kingdom. We can not stress this too much. 
It is not only good health that we need as ministers 
of the Word of life, but an abounding health — a 
dynamic health. 

(3) Good health and the evangelist's thinking. 

It is impossible for the evangelist to think clearly 
if he is constantly having trouble with his stomach 
or his liver. And there is no work which requires 
quicker and clearer thinking than that of meeting 
the objections of those who would procrastinate in 
their obedience to God. He needs to be clear in his 
thinking in his workshop, as he prepares the ammuni- 
tion which is to blast the fortresses of sin. The same 
energy needed to drive home the truth in the delivery 
of the message must show itself in the construction of 
that message. Only the man of clean, strong body 
can have a clean, strong mind. 



36 New Testament Evangelism 

(4) Good health and the delivery of the message. 
Good health gives the message the punch, the 

driving power. Certainly there is no other quality 
to-day so much demanded in an evangelistic mes- 
sage as this very punch or drive. Henry Ward 
Beecher calls it the ''thrust power." It is not mere 
noise, but power. It is warmth and feeling and ear- 
nestness. It is difficult to define it clearly, but all 
these elements enter into it. The nearest to a succinct 
definition that I know is the slang word *'pep.'* 
Such enthusiasm and vitality can only come from 
a great, strong body. The little, weazened, thin- 
chested man simply does not possess it. It is signif- 
icant that the great soul-winners are all men of robust 
physique. Merely to name them is to carry out this 
contention. Wesley, Moody, Sam Jones, Charles G. 
Finney, William A. Sunday, and, in our own great 
work. Professor Black, Martin, Scoville and Updyke. 
These were all men with large chests and strong 
nervous systems. Good health powerfully affects the 
voice. A great, deep, resonant, magnetic voice can 
not come from a little, pinched-up chest. There must 
be the physical capacity back of it if the voice is 
to do its work properly. I have noticed in my own 
work that excessive fatigue always has a tightening 
effect on the vocal chords. The tight voice loses its 
magnetism and moving power. If the evangelist 
would have the ring and punch in his preaching, he 
must watch his body as he would a delicate machine. 

(5) Good health as a cheering influence in the 
meeting. 

The man of poor health, generally speaking, is not 
going to look upon the world in a very cheerful way. 



Qualifications and Training 37 

If he is thinking of a torpid liver and a sour stomach, 
his whole world is going to be colored more or less, 
and the color will be indigo. He is going to be 
cranky and alkaline in his disposition. This kind of 
a man can not bring to bear upon his audiences that 
bright, cheerful influence which will create the atmos- 
phere in which the spiritual life is born. For it must 
be remembered, young men, that the new life is born 
only in that kind of an atmosphere. It is the mes- 
sage of hope and life that brings men to the point 
where they are willing to cast aside the old things 
and accept the glorious new life that is in Christ 
Jesus. Now, the evangelist must be the dynamo which 
generates that cheerful, hopeful influence. If he has 
a robust, abounding health, he will be able to bring 
to bear the contagiously joyful influence which' will 
infuse life and vigor into the work of saving men. 
Cheerfulness generally rests upon a physical basis. 

(6) Some practical suggestions concerning health. 

a. In the first place, consider what Mr. Beecher 
happily calls ''The Art of Eating." 

And it is an art in an evangelistic meeting. Great 
are the temptations of the evangelist; and foremost 
among them is the temptation constantly placed before 
him to make a hog of himself. He is continually 
being invited out to dinner; and in some places it is 
a farming-out process, which means that he is under 
the protecting care of a committee which has been 
appointed before the campaign begins, to see that he 
has a place to dine each day. Each sister thinks 
that she must outdo her neighbor; with the result 
that the evangelist is simply stuffed to death all 
through the meeting. Only a man with a constitution 



38 New Testament Evangelism 

of iron can stand up under such a strain of good 
things. The best and safest plan to follow is to 
always have a place to eat where wholesome food is 
served, and accept only an occasional invitation out 
to dinner. No man can eat a Sunday dinner each 
day and live very long to be a useful servant of the 
King. It is never right to accept invitations out in 
the evening before the evening service. No man can 
preach with the fire and enthusiasm necessary to win 
men, if he has eaten a big meal just before he goes 
into the pulpit. He will be stuffed and the blood 
will be in the stomach instead of in the head, where 
it should be while he is delivering his message. The 
best plan to follow always is to rise and eat a light 
breakfast, then follow with the big meal at noon and 
a light meal in the evening. Of course men are dif- 
ferent, but, generally speaking, these rules pertaining 
to eating should be followed if the very best results 
are to be secured. Some of our evangelists eat after 
the service at night, and claim that they can sleep 
in peace after so doing. Henry Ward Beecher did 
this, and claimed that he could not sleep well unless 
he did it. Personally, I believe, however, that one 
will be better off if he eats his meal about ^ye or 
six o'clock in the afternoon and then eats nothing 
after the service is over. One will find that his health 
will be better and his pep and enthusiasm will be 
stronger for his work. 

h. The relation of rest to the health of the evan- 
gelist. 

Different constitutions require different amounts 
of sleep. One man can get along nicely on seven 
hours; another needs eight or nine. The thing to be 



QiLalifications and Training 39 

remember ea here is that one who preaches every 
night, and does all the other work of an evangelist, 
needs a great amount of rest. Sleep rests the nerves, 
and since the work of the evangelist is a nervous 
work, he will require much sleep to keep his nerves 
in the proper shape for the tremendous hammer- 
strokes which alone will bring success to his efforts. 
There is a danger of sleeping too much, so that one 
is loggy and lacking in the snap and vigor essential 
to the proclamation of his message with enthusiasm. 
One should find out just how much sleep he needs, 
and then be very jealous that that amount is his. He 
must not allow anything to interfere with it. 

In my own work I have found it a splendid thing to 
have an hour's nap in the late afternoon just before 
my evening meal. In this nap I can forget all the 
cares of the day and tone myself up for the work in 
the evening. After the nap, a cold bath, and then I 
am wide awake and ready for the service. 

One of the temptations which will be found to be 
a constant one is the desire to sit up after the eve- 
ning service and visit. This is a bad habit, for the 
most valuable sleep of the night is that which we get 
before twelve o'clock. It is a hard thing to get to 
bed if one is excited after a great and glorious meet- 
ing where many souls have come confessing the Lord, 
but it is the thing to do. The earlier one can get 
to his rest, the better it will be. There is also a 
temptation to sit up and read. I have been guilty 
of this a great deal, but it is a bad policy to follow. 
One can do far more in his study if he will get up 
in the morning. His mind is fresh and clear, and 
the things he learns will stick better than if, at the 



40 New Testament Evangelism 

close of a long, hard day, when mind and body are 
tired, he tries then to cram himself with knowledge. 
If he is to get up early in the morning, he must go 
to bed at night. 

But some one objects: ''What if you can not go to 
sleep after the service?'' This is a question which 
comes frequently. I think there is a great deal in 
suggesting to oneself that he can not sleep. ' I once 
believed this, and would sometimes spend several 
hours after the meeting was over, reading books or 
playing games. One has no business being an evan- 
gelist if the work so stirs up his nerves that he can 
not sleep. He will not last long if this is his sad 
condition. I have frequently found that a fine hot 
bath will make one sleep. It takes the blood from 
the head and relaxes the tense muscles so that one 
can then lie down and sleep without trouble. Person- 
ally, I have found it harder to go to sleep if I fool 
around for an hour or so after going to my room. 
Especially is this true if I read something heavy, 
which starts a train of thought through the mind. I 
find that I must work it out to the end if once it is 
started. If one reads at all, it should be but for a 
short time and then some light or funny story. 

In every meeting there should also be a rest-night. 
The preacher needs it so that he may have time to 
recuperate his powers. The people need it, and must 
have it, if they are to attend as they should. The 
evangelist will notice that the people will take a rest- 
night anyway, especially if the meeting is a long one; 
and it is far better that they be trained to take that 
night by common consent and understanding than for 
them to be dropping out right at the time when they 



Qualifications and Training 41 

should hear some important message. Then, as I have 
already said, the preacher himself needs a night off 
once a week. He will do better work if he takes 
one night to himself and spends it in a quiet manner. 
There are always two nights which are suggested as 
rest-nights — Saturday and Monday. For the evan- 
gelist, Monday would be far the best night, and many 
of our best evangelists rest on that night; but for 
the general welfare of the meeting, Saturday seems 
to be the best time for the holiday. This is especially 
true in the large city, where the people go to the 
stores to do their buying and where so many are 
working at the time of the service. Whatever night 
is chosen will depend, of course, upon the general 
conditions governing the meeting, but that there is a 
vital necessity for one night of rest is the unanimous 
opinion of all experienced soul-winners. 

c. The imperative necessity for exercise. 

The evangelist will secure some exercise if he is 
a good personal worker. He will be walking much, 
and the very activity required in this work will benefit 
him, but it does not give him enough of that thing 
Avhich he must have if he is to be the strong, vigorous 
man he should be. One day a week should be taken 
for recreation. He can hunt, or swim, or play golf, 
or attend sports, but whatever he does is immaterial 
so long as he receives the necessary rest from the inces- 
sant strain of his work. The indulgence in sports will 
make a better man of him, for it will add zest to his 
work and generate the enthusiasm which is so vital 
to the successful presentation of an evangelistic mes- 
sage. Long walks are good, and should have a frequent 
place on the evangelist's program. 



42 New Testament Evangelism 

II. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 

Man of Broad General Culture and Fine 

Technical Training. 

The evangelist who will appeal to the modem man 
must be a man of education. Of course there are 
those who by their peculiarities draw crowds of men, 
but the sensationalism which was so popular a few 
years ago is failing in these days to attract thinking 
men and women, and it is this class which the evan- 
gelist must reach for Christ, if the church is to hold 
the first place in the life of the world. The evan- 
gelist should by all means be a college graduate, 
which means that he must have all the broad general 
culture which the possession of the baccalaureate 
degree implies. To-day he will face scores of college 
men and women in every audience. He must be their 
equal in learning, or they will pay but scant attention 
to what he has to say. Besides his cultural training 
he should have the technical training offered by the 
Bible colleges and seminaries of the land. It is not 
necessary that he be a highly trained, technical 
scholar, in the sense that he has been trained in all 
the intricate processes and methods of securing knowl- 
edge which the man who would be a college professor 
requires; but there are certain things which he should 
know, and know well. I think it would be profitable 
for us, just here, to notice some of the subjects which 
he should know. 

(1) He should know the Bible. 

Not only should he know it in the English text, but 
he should have some knowledge of the original lan- 
guages in which it was written. He will find frequent 



Qualifications and Training 43 

use for the Hebrew and the Greek. Nothing can take 
the place of the knowledge of the Scriptures, for it 
is Scripture that he is to preach. The gospel is the 
power of God unto the salvation of men, and surely 
he should know the ammunition which he is to use. 
He should know the history of the times of the Bible, 
and be acquainted with the proper methods of inter- 
pretation, so that he will not make ridiculous uses of 
the holy Word in his presentation of it to the people. 

(2) He must know the outline of the history of 
the church. 

This is of prime importance for the New Testa- 
ment evangelist who strives for the restoration of the 
New Testament church in its teaching, life, discipline 
and the ordinances practiced by it. He must there- 
fore be thoroughly acquainted with the work of the 
people whom he represents, if he is to be a teacher 
of the multitudes who are in darkness on these things. 
I have always believed that the New Testament evan- 
gelist should specialize in three different periods of 
church history. He should have a broad knowledge 
of the history of the first six centuries, of the period 
of the Renaissance and Reformation, and of the rise 
of the attempts toward restoration of the primitive 
church. He will find constant use for this knowledge 
in his preaching and in his personal work. 

(3) He must know the principles of homiletics. 

If the New Testament evangelist is to be a 
preacher, and if he is to be a soul-winner, he must 
first of all be a preacher; he should certainly know 
how to construct his sermons in the most effective 
manner. If a man is to be an architect, he must 
know how to erect buildings; and if a man is to 



44 New Testament Evangelism 

be a preacher, he must know how to build a sermon 
so that it will strike with the greatest power. It 
perhaps seems strange to you, young men, to-day that 
I should even mention these things, for you are, I 
am sure, taking it for granted that all the evangelists 
will readily agree that they should be studied, and 
yet I am equally certain that you would be surprised 
almost beyond measure if you knew how utterly 
slovenly are the sermons of many of those who are 
making an attempt, at least, to reach men for Christ. 

(4) He must know the principles of psychology. 

In no work in the world is a knowledge of psy- 
chology so important as in the work of evangelism. 
In proportion as a man is conversant with the prin- 
ciples of this most fascinating of sciences will he 
succeed or fail in converting men. When stripped of 
its draperies of definition, psychology is in reality a 
knowledge of the soul of man, or a knowledge of the 
soul life of a man. What more important, then, in 
your work as soul-winners than to know that which 
you are to win? 

(5) He must know how to deliver his message. 

What a crying need there is just here in the train- 
ing, not only of the evangelist, but of the young men, 
in all phases of Christian work. Very few men know 
how to speak with the power and effectiveness which 
they should employ. Here, again, I must be permitted 
in reverent mood to criticize our theological training- 
schools. We have been so much concerned with the 
knowledge content that we have neglected the prac- 
tical. I once heard a young preacher ridicule the 
idea of special training in the use of the voice and 
in gesture by saying: "If I get something in my 



Qualifications and Training 45 

head, I ^ess I can say it." Yes, he could say it, 
in a raspy voice, with crude, awkward gestures, with- 
out emphasis and enthusiasm. Personally, I think that 
the brethren in the churches are certainly longsuffer- 
ing and kind when I hear some of the preaching which 
they are forced to endure. I do not wonder that at 
times they find a strong inclination to stay at home 
and read the morning paper or to go for a spin in 
the automobile. Either diversion would be far more 
refreshing and uplifting. Anojher friend of mine 
once said that he had read a book on oratory. Well, 
that perhaps is a start, but the correct method of the 
delivery of the message is not secured by merely 
reading a book. It is secured by long and arduous 
practice. Public speaking is an art. To me it is the 
most wonderful of all the arts. There is no instru- 
ment so intricate and marvelous as the human voice. 
Have you ever seen a great audience in the hands 
of a master who knew how to bring out all the power 
of the voice? If you have, you will know just what 
I mean when I say that the preacher should know 
how to deliver his message. Do you know the utility 
of the low tones in speaking? Do you know how to 
open the throat? Do you know how to speak for 
hours without becoming hoarse? Could you speak for 
two hours and then sing a solo after the message was 
delivered? The trained man can do this. Do you 
know how to breathe correctly? Do you know where 
to place your gestures? Do you understand the ges- 
ture terminology of ''the preparation, the delivery 
and the return,'* or do your gestures make your 
audience think of the swinging arms of a great Dutch 
windmill? Do you know how to open your mouth in 



46 New Testament Evangelism 

speaking? Do you know where to place the tones so 
they will strike with powerful effect? Before you 
consider this matter lightly, be sure that you know 
these things, and be sure that you can do the things 
that the trained speaker can do. The greatest evan- 
gelist that we as a people ever produced ruined his 
voice by the incorrect use of it in his meetings. 
When it was too late he went to a great Eastern 
teacher of oratory and asked him to do something 
for his voice. The teacher, after the examination of 
his throat and after hearing him speak, said: ''Doctor, 
your trouble is that you have been building your 
fire in your stove-pipe.'* How many of you are 
building the fire in the stove-pipe instead of in the 
fire-box, where it belongs? I do not blame the men 
of the ministry so much for the sad lack of training 
as I do those who have made our curricula in the 
colleges and seminaries. I wish to congratulate you 
that you have the advantages of the great school 
of elocution and oratory which is one of the organized 
schools of the institution. I have visited practically 
all of our Bible colleges, and I believe that the best 
school of this kind is the one which you have the 
privilege to attend. Let me exhort you to grasp the 
opportunity and improve every moment you can 
spare for this fundamentally important thing in the 
preparation of the minister for his work. 

Regarding a question which a friend put to me the 
other day. He asked: "If you were going to recom- 
mend a course of graduate study for an evangelist, 
one which would best fit him for the work of a soul- 
winner, what would be the nature of that course?'* 
Unhesitatingly would I recommend the following lines 



Qitalifications and Traimng 47 

of study which would be of real profit for the New 
Testament evangelist: 

a. Church History. 

h. Systematic Theology, with the History of Doc- 
trine. 

c. Biblical Theology. 

d. New Testament Interpretation. 

These are the subjects which are always uppermost 
m the work of the evangelist; and I am firmly a 
believer in the fact that the soul-winner should do 
graduate work after he has completed his other prepa- 
ration. Just here, I feel that I can do no better 
than to pass on the good word which was once spoken 
to me by a great educator in our own brotherhood. 
It has meant so much to me that I want you also to 
have it. It was this: ''Finish your college and semi- 
nary work and then go out into the field for from 
five to ten years. After you have had the years of 
experience, after maturity has come to you, and 
maturity can not come in the ministry except it come 
through the years of hard experience, then go back 
for a couple of years of graduate work. You wiU 
then be better able to take it, and you will know just 
what you wish to study." 

III. The Evangelist Must Be a Powerful Preacher 
OF THE Word. 

It may sound to you like I am repeating myself 
when I emphasize so much the point of the evangelist 
being, first, last and all the time, a preacher. This 
emphasis is necessary, however, for one of the saddest 
things that have happened to our evangelism has been 
the decay of preaching and the corresponding rise of 



48 New Testament Evangelism 

mechanics. I have in another lecture affirmed my 
position in regard to mechanics, that there is a certain 
amount of mechanics necessary in every meeting — in 
fact, a meeting can not be held without them — but 
that the preaching is the great, central thing, and 
that it is the attractive power, I also want to affirm 
once more with all my soul. One may be a hard 
personal worker, he may be an entertainer, he may 
be able to get the people out after the unconverted, 
he may be an artist in all these things, but if he fails 
in the pulpit he has failed to do the thing that the 
New Testament evangelist was sent into the world to 
do. Those who are won by mechanics alone will not 
be great, strong Christians. The preacher who relies 
upon music only, or the other things that are to be 
included under the names of accessories to the meet- 
ing, will find that he does not build the church, and 
the evangelist must be a builder. He has not come 
into the community merely to convert those who are 
in the Bible school. He is not there merely to line 
up those who have moved into the community from 
some other place and have neglected to place their 
membership with the local congregation. He is there 
to extend the borders of the local church, to go into 
homes that have not been touched before, to win the 
stalwart men of the community who have never sur- 
rendered to the authority of King Jesus. This is his 
task, and it can only be accomplished as he comes 
with a great message of truth, delivered in an attrac- 
tive and powerfully convincing way. He must know 
how "to preach the Word," to exhort, to rebuke with 
all longsuffering and teaching. First, last and always, 
he must be a preacher of Christ. 



Qualifications and Training 49 

IV. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be Pos- 
sessed OF A Strong, Magnetic Personality. 

You have listened to men who were acknowledged 
to be great as soul-winners. They could do just about 
as they pleased with the audiences who heard them. 
They could make their hearers laugh or cry at will. 
They could move them to action so that when the 
invitation song was sounded there would be scores of 
penitents coming down the aisles, some of them weep- 
ing in sorrow for their sins. You studied the man 
and perhaps wondered at his power. After the mes- 
sage you heard some one say: "That evangelist has 
a great personality." Ah! there is the secret. He 
has personality. And personality is the greatest force 
in life. It was because of personality that Antony 
could stand before the Romans and plead Caesar's 
cause so effectively that the mob scattered in rage 
on a mission of vengeance. By the power of a 
mighty personality Paul spread the gospel over his 
part of the world. By the force of personality 
Luther created the Protestant Reformation. By the 
force of personality Wesley builded one of the great- 
est spiritual organizations that the world has ever 
seen. Through a strong, vital personality Billy Sun- 
day sways the multitudes until men from every walk 
of life, though perhaps they disagree with his the- 
ology, come by the thousands to hear him and then 
accept the Lord whom he preaches. ''It is personality 
that makes the great discoveries, writes the great 
books, paints great pictures, achieves great triumphs 
and heroisms, and inscribes names high on the roll of 
fame. Almost every great human achievement is the 



50 New Testament Evcmgelism 

lengthened shadow of some great personality. Person- 
alities are the mountain peaks of history that mark 
the culminating points in the range of events and lift 
the level of their region. ' ' ^ An evangelist with but lit- 
tle personality can not preach a great sermon, so that 
his hearers will be moved to accept his message, but 
the soul-winner whose personality is strong, though 
his message be not so big with thought, will preach 
it with such convincing power that great and lasting 
good will be done. 

Can a definition of personality be given? It is 
not easy to define. *'Like so many other great and 
vital things, it can not be shut up within the verbal 
boundaries of a definition; it is atmospheric and 
elusive; it can not be accurately analyzed and enu- 
merated and weighed in all its elements. It is highly 
complex and subtle, and it is largely spirit; it is 
something plus over and above the analyzable elements 
of a man. Often we can not tell what the secret of 
a powerful personality is, and perhaps the man him- 
self does not know.^'' 

Personality is born, not made by education or 
training. You can not make a diamond out of a 
sandstone. You could not make a Charles G. Finney 
or a Henry Drummond out of a man who did not 
have the blood in his veins. For here it is after all. 
Heredity has done for us all that is to be done in 
giving us personality. If we have it, we have it; if 
not, it can not be created for us. I think the best 
definition I have ever found is that given by Dr. 
Snowden when he says: ''Personality consists of the 



^•'Psychology of Religion," Snowden (p. 347), 
*Jlid (p. 346). 



Qualifications and Training 51 

native endowment of a man developed into discipline 
and power. The native endowment is by far the larger 
part of it, and to this nothing can be added by educa- 
tion and effort. Heredity does more for us than we 
can ever do for ourselves. As seven-eighths of an ice- 
berg is submerged under the sea, so seven-eighths of 
a man's personality is immersed in the blood of his 
heredity. The bulk of his body, the breadth of his 
brain, the volume of his blood, the stock of his vital- 
ity, his brawn and breadth, and the power of his 
mind, the warmth of his emotions, the strength of his 
will, and all the subtle elements that shape and color 
his individuality and give it distinction — these basic 
constituents of his personality are selected and mixed 
and tempered for him in his birth, and have roots 
running back through countless generations. ' ' ^ Emer- 
son was once asked when the training of a child 
should begin; he answered: **A thousand years before 
he is bom." 

But should we bewail the fact if we have not been 
dealt with generously by nature in that there has 
come to us no rich heritage from a long line of noble 
sires? Should we refuse to do anything at all because 
we have not a wealth of resources to begin with? 
No! Let us, though from the standpoint of heredity 
we must stay in the mold which nature has created 
for us, not be supinely indifferent to the work which 
is to be done. Let us rather do those things which 
will bring out most efficiently the strong points which 
are already ours. In a word, our personalities may 
be developed, and this is precisely the function of 
education. 



"Psychology of Religion," Snowden (pp. 347, 348). 



52 New Testament Evangelism 

Let us notice some of the elements of personality 
in an efficient soul-winner. 

a. Good health is certainly an element. This is 
really the basis of a strong personality. The power 
of the imagination, the warmth of the emotions, the 
force of the will, must depend upon the state of 
health in which the soul-winner finds himself. If he 
is constantly worried over some physical defect, if he 
is troubled by a bad stomach or a torpid liver, he 
will find that the whole outlook on life will be colored, 
and with dark and pessimistic colors. He should 
therefore keep his body in fine tune, so that the 
basis of all his work will be strong and reliable, for 
a good, strong body and warm, rich blood form the 
basis of a vital personality. 

h. Concentration is another element in a strong 
personality. The preacher can not divide his atten- 
tion and bring a message of striking power. His 
mind must constantly be centered on the one thing — 
his work in winning men. He can not go into busi- 
ness on a large scale and at the same time be a 
winner of men. Concentration brings earnestness, and 
earnestness brings the truth home with that emphasis 
which causes men to decide for the Lord. 

c. A pleasing, magnetic, powerful voice is an ele- 
ment in the personality of the evangelist. I can 
not but think of one of our brethren who never 
failed to rub the fur the wrong way whenever he 
went before an audience. He was connected with the 
business administration of some of our conventions. 
His high, rasping voice put people on nettles, and 
every one was always delighted when he came to the 
conclusion of his remarks. The voice that is rich 



Qualifications and Training 53 

and musical, filled with magnetism and persuasive 
power, is a possession of which any soul-winner may 
be justly proud, for it is one of the most forceful 
elements in bringing men to a decision. The voice 
can be trained and should be trained. No matter 
how much you may know, if you do not know how to 
tell it, the people will not give you an audience. It 
is positively wicked for a man to go before an intel- 
ligent audience these days and ruin their nervous 
systems with a little, rasping, piping voice. Conan 
Doyle once very tersely put it: ''I have often won- 
dered why it is that so many brilliant men, who 
have really something worth while to say, have not 
taken time to learn how to say it. " ^ 

d. An easy, graceful bearing before an audience is 
another element in a striking personality. 

The evangelist who is conscious of himself, who is 
afraid always that he will make some blunder, and 
who therefore is watching himself, will not be able for 
long to interest men. Training will assist much in 
teaching a man what to do with his hands and his 
feet. If he does not have this training, he may 
stumble into the correct manner by accident, but it 
is far more probable that he will stumble into error. 

e. Neatness and cleanliness in personal appearance 
is still another element in the personality which must 
be the possession of the evangelist. The people will 
not stand for dirt. I once knew a preacher of the 
West whose choir members were accustomed to look him 
over very carefully before he went into the pulpit to 
see whether or not he was brushed and if his shoes 
were shined. Needless to say, that man lost his influ- 



^ "The Lost World," Sir A. Conan Doyle. 



54 New Testament Evangelism 

ence in the community and was forced to move to 
another field. There is simply no excuse for the 
gravy-on-the-vest preacher. Soap and water are obtain- 
able for all, and it does not take much time or money 
to press one's trousers. 

/. Sparkling humor is an element in an efficient 
personality which must not be overlooked. Every 
great preacher of the past has had some of it. Henry 
Ward Beecher could at will convulse his audiences 
with laughter. One can not read his Yale lectures 
to-day without feeling his mirthfulness as he describes 
the old-fashioned pulpit as *'the swallow's nest on the 
wall," or as he tells of his father's lack of imagina- 
tion. Humor has a place in every service, and happy 
indeed is the man who knows how and when to use 
it. It should, however, be used in the first part of 
the service, so that the people may be in a bright 
and happy frame of mind for the sermon. It has 
no place near the conclusion of the sermon. I once 
knew a great preacher who made the terrible mistake 
of closing all his sermons with a funny illustration. 
After he had his people laughing, he would then try 
to extend the invitation. Of course it fell flat. He 
was never very successful in bringing men to decision, 
because of his wrong use of humor. But the person- 
ality which bubbles over with mirth now and then 
will be contagious and attractive, and will always 
assemble great crowds of hearers. 

One's use of humor is susceptible of development. 
A friend said to me on one occasion: *'I have heard 
many funny stories which I could tell if I could but 
remember them. Just when I want to use them, how- 
ever, they are gone." I have found many of this 



Qualifications and Training 55 

type who could tell the amusing illustration if they 
could but remember the right one for the right time. 
Let me here make a suggestion. Get you a small 
book, and whenever you hear a good story make a 
note of it. In this way you will accumulate a great 
number of fine illustrations which you will constantly 
find of use in your ministry. 

g. The ability to adapt oneself to varying condi- 
tions is an element in an efficient personality. The 
evangelist will preach to all types of men. He will 
find himself in all kinds of conditions and environed 
with varying and sometimes not altogether pleasant 
surroundings. His ability to adapt himself and his 
message to the hearers who constitute his audience 
will be a large and determining factor in his success. 
One month he may preach in a church noted for its 
culture and refinement. He must know how to appeal 
to men of the highest education and training. Ser- 
mons which in another place would be received with 
enthusiasm would here be entirely out of place. The 
next month he may preach to men of toil, who have 
had no opportunity to sip the sweets of knowledge. 
The sermon filled with historical allusions and refer- 
ences to literature would here be over the heads of 
his people. The evangelist, therefore, can not be cast 
in one rigid mold, for, if he is, his message will be 
limited to one class of men alone. He must be able 
to do in Rome as the Romans do. Paul, who was 
the most adaptable of all evangelists, expressed the 
thought in that fine, manly passage in his first letter 
to the Corinthians: ''For though I was free from 
all men, I brought myself under bondage to all, that 
I might gain the more. And to the Jews I became 



56 New Testament Evangelism 

as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are 
under the law, as under the law, not being myself 
under the law, that I might gain them that are under 
the law; to them that are without the law, as without 
the law, not being without law to God, but under the 
law to Christ, that I might gain them that are with- 
out the law. To the weak I became weak, that I 
might gain the weak. I am become all things to all 
men, that I might by all means save some'' (1 Cor. 
9:19-22). 

Ji. Balance and poise of character are certainly 
fundamental elements in an efficient personality. To 
be able to at all times hold a fine poise; to be able 
to hold oneself in absolute control, no matter what 
the provocation to lose that control — ^what a power this 
is! This was the glorious philosophy of that noble 
Roman of the long ago who was continually saying to 
those who would know how to be strong: ''Control 
thyself." The evangelist who would control great 
audiences of men must certainly first of all know how 
to control himself. He will find much to disturb him 
and tempt him to lose his temper. He will find that 
people are not trained in the psychological realm as 
he is trained. They will not know that it is wrong 
to move about during an invitation song. Many of 
them will see no harm in going out during the very 
climax of the sermon. They do not know these things, 
and some who know, do not care. There will be a 
thousand and one things to try the patience of the 
soul-winner, but through them all, if he would have 
power, he must be able to hold his poise and balance. 
Never descend to the vulgar or low in your talking 
with men. Never let the people see that you have lost 



Qualifications and Training 57 

your own control, for, if they see that, they will lose 
their respect for you. I once knew a great preacher, 
in the solemn act of dedicating a building which had 
cost thousands of dollars, who, when a woman with 
a crying baby arose to leave the room, shocked his 
great audience by saying: ''Open the door for that 
cow and calf." Later on in the same service, as some 
of the people, disgusted at his vulgarity and brutality, 
were leaving, he said: ** There go some more of the 
dirty dishwashers." Such language is unpardonable. 
Is it any wonder that the dedication was a miserable 
failure, and that the church was left to struggle 
under a debt of forty thousand dollars, and for more 
than ten years? The whole battle was lost because 
the general lost his control. A few kind words that 
day would have saved untold sacrifice on the part of 
an already heavily burdened people. 

i. Intensity is another positive element in a strong 
personality. And how much must it ever be a part of 
the nature of the evangelist if he is to make his 
people feel the imperative nature of the truth which 
he brings to them. Intensity is that power to make 
men feel deeply the tremendous importance of the 
things of the kingdom. It is the power to bring small 
things to a man's attention in an exaggerated way. 
The man who has an intense, enthusiastic nature will 
think about things intensely, he will feel intensely, 
and he will speak with intense power and enthusiasm. 
I can not refrain here from quoting once more from 
that glorious chapter of Dr. Snowden's work on per- 
sonality: ''Some personalities are by nature dull and 
uninteresting; they are alkaline in nature and give a 
negative reaction; they are bromidic and soporific; 



58 New Testament Evangelism 

others are bright and enlivening; they are acid in 
nature and give a positive reaction, they are efferves- 
cent and contagious. Much of this difference is 
temperamental, but it is not wholly beyond our con- 
trol. An intense and lively personality depends on 
deep convictions that readily flush the feelings and 
infect others. The preacher needs to be a live and 
contagious personality that he may infect and stir 
his congregation; and he should therefore think deeply 
and earnestly, and cherish intense convictions that 
kindle his soul into glowing heat, and then his per- 
sonality, instead of being dull and depressing, will be 
vivid and vital.'' ^ Truly it takes a fire to kindle a 
fire. 

j. The most powerful element in the personality 
of the soul-winner will ever be the Christlike spirit. 
It will show itself in everything he does. As he goes 
into the home for personal work, the kindness and 
beneficence of his bearing will make the inmates of 
that home love him, and, through him, the Christ 
whose spirit he has. As he comes before his audience 
it will take the sting out of his presentation of the 
great doctrinal themes about which perhaps contro-. 
versy has raged. As he comes to his exhortation it will 
give warmth and pleading power to his words. A man 
through whose face goodness shines, will make his 
people good, for he can only give to them that which 
he himself already has. Eloquence and rhetoric will 
not for long be successfully substituted for a godly 
life. If you are filled with the spirit of Christ, you 
will have the most convincing and moving power that 
the evangelist of the Lord can possess. 



* "Psychology of Religion," Snowden (p. 351). 



Qualifications and Training 59 

I have spent considerable time in discussing per- 
sonality and its development, for its foundational 
importance to the minister makes it deserving of 
thorough and exhaustive consideration. If one does 
Qot possess personality to a considerable degree, I 
would never advise him to enter the general evan- 
gelistic field, for he will soon leave it and with a 
broken heart. 

V. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be Will- 
ing TO Work Long and Arduously. 

The field of New Testament evangelism is no place 
for the man who was ''born tired." It is the place 
only for the man who has such tremendous energy 
that he is willing to work almost day and night for 
the extension of the kingdom. I do not know of any 
work which requires more energy than that of win- 
ning men. There is simply no let-up. The servant 
of God must be up and at it all the time. It is a 
sad fact that there are lazy men in the ministry. 
One can occasionally find such who desire nothing 
better than a nice, fat salary and a congregation 
which requires nothing of them but to deliver two 
little, moral lectures on the Lord's Day. Such men 
are a disgrace to the high calling which, young gentle- 
men, we have the honor to represent. If you belong 
to this class, if you lack ambition and push, let me 
advise you to give the work of New Testament evan- 
gelism not even a second thought, for you will not 
succeed if you enter the field. The evangelist must 
not only work out his own salvation, but he must 
remember that the saving of others will also require 
hard toil. 



60 New Testament Evangelism 

VI. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 
Christian of the Highest Type. 

(1) He must be a man of stainless purity of life. 

The unclean man has no business trying to lead 
men to the light. It has been the fashion in our 
country for those who have been caught in some great 
sin, and who by their detection have gathered unto 
themselves widespread notoriety, to enter the evan- 
gelistic field. They would capitalize the unwholesome 
publicity which they have secured. The time has 
come when this type of unprincipled evangelism 
should be frowned down by all decent men and 
women. The man whose life has been clean will do 
far more in bringing men to a saving knowledge of 
the truth than some notorious sinner who, after 
detection, has claimed reformation, and who then, in 
order to capitalize the past, enters into the field of 
soul-saving. Nothing has been more sad than the 
fact that there have been those who have brought 
opprobrium upon all who in honesty and faithful 
living have been trying to serve the Lord in the great 
field of general evangelism, by their indiscretion, their 
irregularities and even by their profligacy. Such 
men have always received the rewards of the wrong- 
doer, but it is an unhappy thing that there should 
even be one such case. Innocent men suffer because 
of the sins of the guilty. The old statement that 
'*one skunk can odorize a whole barnyard" certainly 
applies here with terrible force. The evangelist must 
watch himself every minute, for in the hour that he 
thinks not the tempter will be present to strike. The 
only sure way for the man who would be a winner 



Qualifications and Training 61 

of souls to be in that place where he may know that 
he is safe is to follow the teaching of the Word and 
shun the very appearance of evil. 

(2) He must be a man of prayer. 

Mere intellectual power, mere force in the delivery 
of his message, will not take the place of the dedica- 
tion of the inner life. I have never known real 
winners of men except those who were constantly before 
the throne. There is a power that comes through 
prayer that can come in no other way. A communion 
with the Father which brings into the troubled soul 
of the preacher, distraught with the cares and bur- 
dens of his work, peace and resolution, and a quiet 
determination, will make him a dynamo before his 
people. Spend time in prayer, my young friends. 
Lift your soul on its golden wings to the mountain 
peaks of peace, where you may know Him better 
whom to know aright is life eternal. 

(3) The life of the evangelist must be a portrai- 
ture of the life of Jesus whom he proclaims. 

Men must be drawn to the evangelist because he 
is a man. Christ was a man. He was not the weak, 
spineless creature so often portrayed by the artists 
of the past, but a man with rich, red blood, a strong 
bearing before men; one who could go into the temple 
with the whip and drive out the money-changers, and 
with stinging words that cut worse than the lash 
itself. He was the one who could endure the scourg- 
ing without a murmur, and on the cross, in the terrible 
heat of the day, amid all the tears and sweat and 
blood, make not a word of complaint nor utter a 
sound of suffering. Only a man could do all this. 
And it must be this grand, Christian manliness, this 



62 New Testament Evangelism 

strength which comes only with constant association 
with Jesus, which must shine forth in every act and 
word of the ambassador of the King. Men must first 
believe in you as a man, a man in whom they can 
have the utmost confidence, regarding whose integrity 
and worth they will not be disappointed. A beautiful 
passage from Beecher has been of help to me in bring- 
ing this thought more forcibly to my own heart: **A 
part of your preparation for the Christian ministry 
consists in such a ripening of your disposition that 
you yourselves will be an exemplar of what you 
preach. And by exemplar I do not mean simply a 
man who does not cheat his neighbor, or who unites 
in himself all the scrupulosities of the neighborhood; 
but a minister ought to be entirely, inside and out, 
a pattern man; not a pattern man in abstention, but 
a man of grace, generosity, magnanimity, peaceable- 
ness, sweetness, though of high spirit, and self- 
defensory power when required; a man who is broad 
and wide and full of precious contents. You must 
come to a higher level than common manhood if you 
wish to be a preacher. You are not to be a needle 
to carry a thin thread, and sew up old rags all your 
life long. That is not the thing to which you are 
called. You are called to be men of such nobleness 
and largeness and gentleness, so Pauline and so 
Christlike, that in all your intercourse with the little 
children, and with the young people of your charge, 
you shall produce a feeling that they would rather 
be with the minister than with any gentleman in the 
State — always fresh, always various, always intent on 
the well-being of others, well understanding them and 
their pleasures and sympathies, promoting enjoyment, 



Qualifications and Training 63 

promoting instruction, promoting all that is noble in 
its noblest form and purest Christlikeness — that is 
what it is your business to be."' We can not pro- 
duce character and Christlikeness by simply preaching 
on character and Christlikeness, no matter how elo- 
quent and forceful we may be in the presentation of 
these subjects. We must produce the type which we 
would have those who hear us follow. They will see 
our Christ through us. 

(4) The life of the evangelist must evidence the 
fact that he is filled with the Holy Spirit. 

The great soul-winners of the church have been 
men whose lives were Spirit-filled. That wonderful 
forerunner of Christ, John the Baptist, was the one 
of whom it was said even before his birth that "he 
shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall 
drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be 
filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's 
womb, and he shall turn many of the children of 
Israel unto the Lord their God" (Luke 1:15, 16). 
Out under the copper sky, down in the great ditch of 
the Jordan valley, with the accursed ground with its 
bones of the past under his feet, he proclaimed, with 
the fire of heaven, the coming One who should be the 
Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. His 
message was a Spirit-filled message. Of Jesus it was 
said, as He was led into the wilderness to His tempta- 
tion, that He *'was filled with the Holy Spirit" 
(Luke 4:1), and it was the strengthening power of 
the Spirit of the living God which sustained Him 
amidst those terrible trials. On Pentecost the apostles 
were filled with the Spirit; at the gate Beautiful of 

*"Yale Lectures on PreachiBg," Beecher (Book I., p. 87). 



64 New Testament Evangelism 

the temple Peter and John were filled with His 
marvelous power; and Saul of Tarsus, even before he 
was known by the name the very mention of which 
causes the profoundest sensations of joy in our hearts, 
was filled with the Spirit of God, and, arising, was 
baptized into the name of the very one who so 
ardently and persistently he had persecuted (Acts 
9; 17, 18). I am a firm believer, young men, that 
to-day the promise of the Spirit is ours and that He 
will come and dwell in our hearts as we study His 
Word and as we know His message. And yet again, 
did not Jesus make the promise (and I am certain 
that v/e are included in its terms now) that we should 
receive the energizing power of the Spirit through 
prayer? Note the strength of the words, '*If ye then, 
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father 
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 
11:13). Do we really believe this promise to-day? 
Have you personally tested the Lord just here? Those 
who have tested Him know that He has not disap- 
pointed them, and that He will give His Spirit to 
them that ask Him. 

(5) Love must be the center of the ministry of 
the evangelist. 

a. He must love Christ, and this implies that he 
will be absolutely loyal to Him. 

Jesus said: ''If ye love me, ye will keep my com- 
mandments" (John 14:15). Surely this implies an 
absolute and unswerving loyalty to the Christ as Lord. 
The evangelist must realize that he is working under 
a commission. The words he speaks are not his own; 
they are but a message from a higher authority; he 



Qualifications and Training 65 

is but an ambassador of the great King of glory. In 
a word, the very finest way for us to show our love 
to Christ as soul-winners is that we should be in life 
and message but a representative of the Christ whose 
we are and whom we serve. There can never be suc- 
cess foi* us as winners of souls unless we are so filled 
with the love of Christ Jesus that we can do nothing 
else but preach His gospel to men, in the spirit in 
which He preached it. Such love of the Lord will 
lend strength to our ministry; it will not be merely 
a coldly intellectual thing, a mere dry theological dis- 
pensation, but it will be warm and tender and appeal- 
ing, and we will have souls for our hire, for men 
will be impressed with the fact that such a man is 
deeply sincere, that he preaches because he can not 
help preaching. If love be the very center of our 
evangelistic work, it will make many a rough place 
smooth. We will not find it hard to adapt ourselves 
to conditions which may not be pleasant, because we 
work from the love of itj we are urged by something 
which makes us oblivious to the unpleasantnesses of 
the labor. 

h. The evangelist must also love the church which 
Christ loved, and which He purchased with His own 
precious blood. 

In his preaching he must ever exalt the church. 
I have, in another section, discussed this point some- 
what, but I can not refrain from re-emphasizing it 
just here. If the evangelist realizes as a part of his 
very innermost thoughts that the church is not a 
human institution, that its plan was divine, that it 
was founded by a divine founder, that it is the bride 
of Christ, that it is the body of Christ, that it is the 



66 New Testament Evangelism 

temple of the Holy Spirit, that, above all, Jesus loved 
it so much that upon Calvary's mount He shed His 
own blood for it, he will find that he can not but 
constantly exalt it before the world. It is a very 
popular thing to-day for shallow thinkers to heckle 
the church. One constantly hears, and all too fre- 
quently from the pulpit, the question, *'What is the 
matter with the church?'' When I hear a preacher 
asking this question, there is in my soul somehow 
a secret of revolt. I can not help it. I feel like 
asking, ''What is the matter with the preacher who 
asks this question?" I have never known a preacher 
who had large audiences, who was constantly wit- 
nessing additions to the church, whose people were 
giving to the extension of the kingdom throughout the 
world, who asked this question. I have heard men, 
however, whose audiences were poor and listless, and 
to whom a conversion was an almost unknown occur- 
rence, ask it. The matter, nine times out of ten, is 
not with the church, but with such questioners. We 
need not only to love the church ourselves, but we 
need to teach our people to love it, and we can not 
make this a lasting and effective lesson unless we con- 
stantly exalt the church of God as holy and divine. 
I do not mean that you shall understand me as 
not believing in the preacher rebuking the church for 
her sins. Love sometimes shows itself in words that 
flame with righteous anger at the imperfections and 
irregularities of the church. The mother love is none 
the less intense because it sometimes manifests great 
anger at the sins of the wayward child. Righteous 
indignation is a part of true love, and will manifest 
itself when that which it loves does wrong. That 



Qualifications and Training 67 

preacher who is so easy that he never rebukes the 
church for her sins is not manifesting a greater love 
for the church by his negligence; he is only showing 
his own spinelessness. There are times, therefore, 
when it is the duty of the soul-winner to thunder 
against the sins of the people of God. I can not but 
admire the mighty words of John Huss, whose thun- 
ders against the sins of his day stirred the hearts of 
men to the core. In every generation there have 
been men whose mighty love for the bride of Christ 
caused them to rise in righteous wrath at the sins of 
those whose consciences had become seared and whose 
hearts had become hardened. Do not shun this side 
of your work, my young friends. It will be necessary, 
but let your chastisements be given in love, and 
because you love the church and would see her what 
God would have her be. 

c. The evangelist must love his fellow-men who 
are dying in sin. 

He must never come to that place to which, sad to 
say, some men have come, where he will do his work 
in a professional manner. There is always a danger, 
especially if the evangelist be a successful man, of 
his becoming an aristocrat. He is hedged about with 
many barriers which tend to take him away from 
the people. When he comes to the place that to him 
there are but a few who are worth while, then he has 
come to the end of his usefulness as a minister of 
Christ. You can not get the love of men by reading 
books. There is a danger in our life, to-day, that we 
may desire to become scholars, and the life of the 
scholar is generally divorced from the life of the 
common run of men. One can come to know the real 



68 New Testament Evangelism 

love of his fellow-men as he goes into their homes 
day by day, where there is sickness and sorrow. He 
can have his own heart warmed with sympathy only 
as he goes among those who are in poverty, and suf- 
fering from the lack of the very necessities of life. 
I once said to a preacher friend of mine that I did 
not want him to ask me to accompany him on any 
of his errands of mercy. I did not want him to ask 
me to go to a funeral. I thank God that I have 
learned better now. It is good for the preacher him- 
self to go with the pastor to visit some of the sick 
and afflicted. It is good for him to go to a funeral 
once in awhile. Otherwise his heart is in grave 
danger of drying up and his preaching will become 
as dry as his heart. 

VII. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be a 
Man with Strong, Burning Convictions. 

(1) He must believe with all his soul the message 
he is to deliver, if he is to make others believe it 

There is no place for doubt in the preaching of 
the soiil-winner. He is not to leave his people in 
the attitude of suspended judgment. You can't 
preach repentance like you would conduct a seminary 
class. The word must come with the ring of divine 
authority, if men are to listen even for a moment 
to what you have to say. Oh, young men, if we can 
only constantly keep before us the object of our min- 
istry! We are not to impart knowledge just for the 
sake of knowledge itself. We are to teach that we 
may win men. The evangelist must of all men be 
a pragmatist in his philosophy. That which does not 
work must be cast overboard; he will have no time 



Qualifications and Training 69 

for it. He will be so busy that he will find that only 
those things which are ''mighty to save" will be 
retained in his thought. The evangelists have never 
been the destructive critics. And I think that the 
reason for this is to be found in the fact that they 
are such consistent pragmatists. Some there are who 
study theology just that they may know theology, that 
they may have its facts as a part of their knowledge 
content. The knowing of it brings not change to the 
life. It is not a practical thing with them at all. 
The great Wellhausen was once chided by a friend 
with the words: ''Why, if I believed and taught as 
you do, I would not go to church." "You are quite 
right," was the answer; "I do not go myself." It is 
this very attitude of mind toward the things of the 
kingdom of God which would emasculate the power 
of the soul-winner, and it is therefore the very atti- 
tude above all others that must find no place in his 
thinking. Let your message come with the pile-driv- 
ing force of one who believes that what he says is 
the very last word on the subject, and you will make 
other men believe and they will come by the hundreds 
to obey the gospel of our Lord. 

In his study hours the soul-winner will find that 
there are times when doubts creep in. No man who 
thinks at all is free from them. Some of us will once 
in awhile even get a new idea. New ideas are to be 
ardently desired. It is indeed well that we should 
long for them. It is better, however, if we learn to 
digest well before we spout the idea before the breth- 
ren. It is a sin productive of much trouble to rush 
into print with something which we have just learned. 
An illustration just here will make plainer my mean- 



70 New Testament Evangelism 

ing. A very brilliant minister in an Eastern State 
had taken a year's vacation from his pulpit, and had 
gone back to a famous old university for some grad- 
uate work. After his return he was invited by the 
convention committee of his own State to deliver an 
address before the annual State convention. What an 
opportunity to deliver an inspirational address, one 
which should deepen the faith of the hundreds who 
heard him. What a chance to send them away with 
glowing hearts and shining eyes for another year's 
battle with sin. Did he meet this opportunity? Not 
for a minute. Rather did he spend his time telling 
his hearers how many ideas in the Bible we had, in 
our thinking, outgrown. The whole address was 
negative, it was sophomoric, it smacked of the school- 
room. It was intended to shoV off what the schoolboy 
had learned while he was away at college. Let us 
realize that we are not to save men by preaching unto 
them New Testament introduction. We are not going 
to win sinners by proclaiming, in well-modulated, 
scholarly voice, the correct methods of Scriptural 
exegesis. Men are not to be redeemed by school 
processes. In their place these things are perfectly 
proper, but for the sake of success leave them in their 
place. Negative preaching never succeeds. Make 
your message positive, and preach it with all the 
power and earnestness in you, and you will rejoice 
in the salvation of multitudes of men. 

(2) The great soul-winners have all been men of 
mighty convictions. 

a. How true this was in the apostolic age. 

(a) When we think of men with burning convic- 
tions, men whose message was backed up by the unan- 



Qualifications and Training 71 

swerable power of life, we think of that stern prophet 
of the coming kingdom, out there under the copper 
sky and upon the banks of that sullen, yellow river, 
John the Baptist. How his words scorched the very 
souls of his multitudinous hearers! In the vivid 
words of Farrar: "No wonder that such a man at 
once made himself felt as a power in the midst of 
the people. It became widely rumored that in the 
wilderness of Judea lived one whose burning words 
it was worth while to hear; one who recalled Isaiah 
by his expressions, Elijah by his life. A Tiberius was 
polluting by his infamies the throne of the empire; 
a Pontius Pilate, with his insolences, cruelties, extor- 
tions, massacres, was maddening a fanatic people; 
Herod Antipas was exhibiting to facile learners the 
example of calculated apostasy and reckless lust; 
Caiaphas and Annas were dividing the functions of a 
priesthood which they disgraced. Yet the talk of the 
new prophet was not of political circumstances such 
as these; the lessons he had to teach were deeper and 
more universal in their moral and social significance. 
Whatever might be the class that flocked to his stem 
solitude, his teachings were intensely practical, pain- 
fully heart-searching, fearlessly downright. And so 
Pharisee and Sadducee, scribe and soldier, priest and 
publican, all thronged to listen to his words. The 
place where he preached was that wild range of 
uncultivated and untenanted wilderness which stretches 
southward from Jericho and the fords of the Jordan 
to the shores of the Dead Sea. The cliffs which 
overhung the narrow defile which led from Jerusalem 
to Jericho were the haunt of dangerous robbers; the 
wild beasts and crocodiles were not yet extinct in the 



72 New Testament Evangelism 

reed-beds that marked the swellings of the Jordan; 
yet from every quarter of the country — from priestly 
Hebron, from holy Jerusalem, from smiling Galilee — 
they came streaming forth to catch the accents of 
this strange voice. And the words of that voice were 
like a hammer to dash in pieces the flintiest heart, 
like a flame to pierce into the most hidden thoughts. 
Without a shadow of euphemism, without an accent 
of subservience, without a tremor of hesitation, he 
rebuked the tax-gatherers for their extortionateness ; 
the soldiers for their violence, unfairness and discon- 
tent ; the wealthy Sadducees and stately Pharisees for a 
formalism and falsity which made them vipers of 
a viperous brood. " ^ If the mighty convictions had 
been taken from John, he would have had no message 
for his wicked day. 

(&) Peter on Pentecost was stirred with great con- 
victions. I am convinced that we to-day could stir 
men now, as he stirred them then, if we could but be 
as possessed with tremendous convictions as he was 
then. Through what a fiery trial he had come. He 
knew what he spake and there was no hesitancy in 
his speaking it. He knew now that Jesus who had 
been crucified was indeed the Son of God, and that 
He had been raised from the dead by the power of 
God. What a faith was in his heart, and, inspired 
as he was with this faith, his words came with con- 
vincing power to the assembled multitude. His was 
no quiet, gentle sermon, but with flushed cheek and 
flashing eyes he proclaimed the wonderful things of 
God. When a man is stirred with holy passions, 
when through his soul there comes the realization 



»"The Life of Christ," Farrar (p. 87). 



Qualifications and Training 73 

of tJie awful state of man and the efficacy of the 
power of God to save him from that state, he is going 
to preach as a "dying man with a message to dying 
men. ' ' 

(c) Philip the evangelist preached to the officer 
with intense conviction. There was no hesitancy nor 
waiting for a better time. He preached Jesus with 
all the ardor and enthusiasm of a soul on fire with a 
zeal for God. And there was a conversion for his 
efforts. There will always be conversions where the 
positive message is preached, for that kind alone will 
make men want to repent and turn to God. 

(d) Take the work of Paul as an illustration. 
Wherever he went he preached Christ with conviction. 
Like Peter and John, he was willing to obey God 
rather than men. He was determined not to be dis- 
obedient to the heavenly vision. His words came 
with power because he believed with all his soul the 
gospel which he preached. 

h. Men of conviction have been the soul-savers in 
every age since Christ and the apostles. 

We need only to mention the names of the great 
soul-winners, and we have included in our enumera- 
tion those men in the history of the church who have 
been outstanding in their mighty and unshakable 
convictions. Savonarola, Huss, Wicliff, Luther, Cal- 
vin, Wesley, Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Moody, 
Spurgeon, Torrey, Chapman, Charles G. Finney, Billy 
Sunday, Campbell, Stone, Scott, Black, Updyke — 
what a group of names is this! And these were able 
to win men by the thousands because they would 
rather die than to give up their convictions. What a 
lesson they have left for us, in this age, when as 



74 New Testament Evangelism 

never before men are wavering and in need of the 
light that will guide them to the haven of assurance 
where abounds peace. 

(3) There are great doctrines about which the 
evangelist must have some positive convictions if he 
is to be a soul-winner. 

I do not feel that I am infringing upon your 
private opinions if I mention some of these doctrines. 
I know that there are various interpretations regard- 
ing some of the positions which I shall name, but 
experience has taught me, in my own feeble efforts for 
the Master, that the teachings I shall here mention 
are absolutely vital in soul-winning, for they are funda- 
mentals of our faith. 

a. The personality and Fatherhood of God. 

We can not preach a God who is merely an essence 
in everything and a part of everything. The panthe- 
istic position will not make men desire to know God, 
for they can not in this way conceive of Him as 
Father. It is the Fatherhood appeal which touches 
the hearts of the lost. 

h. The deity of Jesus Christ as the only begotten 
Son of God. 

The Unitarian position will never lend itself to 
evangelism. That it can not is well demonstrated by 
the fact that, in all the years of its existence, it has 
not. When the deity of Jesus is taken from the mes- 
sage there is no message left, for you have robbed the 
world of its only Saviour and that which is left is 
dull and lifeless. 

c. The personality of the Holy Spirit, His work 
in conversion, and as an indwelling guest in the heart 
of the Christian. 



Qicalifications and Tradning 75 

More and more are people desiring to know about 
the Holy Spirit. It is a weakness of our own preach- 
ing, I fear, that we have not in the past given to the 
subject of the Holy Spirit the prominence which it 
should have received. There is moral dynamite in this 
great subject, dynamite which will shake men, and the 
New Testament evangelist must have some very definite 
convictions regarding it. 

d. The Holy Scriptures as the Word of God and 
the all-sufficient guide and discipline in matters per- 
taining to life and doctrine. 

Whatever may be your theory of inspiration, and 
we are not discussing that here, there must be in 
your own heart the consciousness that the Bible is 
God's Word, that in it He has revealed His will to 
men. The inner consciousness can not be the seat 
of authority for the soul-winner. He must come to 
men with the mighty authority of a ''Thus saith the 
Lord.'' 

e. The church of Christ as a divine institution 
which must be placed first in the life of every child 
of God. 

We have at length considered this position before. 
We must have some very strong convictions about the 
church if we are to win men to the church. 

/. The plan of salvation as outlined in the sacred 
Scriptures. 

When we have brought men to the point that they 
cry out, ''What must we do to be saved?" we must 
then be able to tell them what the Lord has commanded. 
The plan of salvation will form a large part of the 
evangelist's preaching because his whole effort is to 
get men to do something for the Lord, and certainly 



76 New Testament Evangelism 

he must be able to tell them what the Lord wants, 
and to do it in the Lord's way. 

g. The absolute and imperative necessity of com- 
plete obedience to the great ordinances of the Lord. 

These ordinances have not received their rightful 
place in the preaching of the great denominational 
preachers of the last few hundred years. Their 
position in the economy of Christ is a strong one 
psychologically. They represent decision, and decision 
is the constant aim of the preaching of the soul- 
winner. Hence he must believe in the ordinances in 
all the strength and beauty of their New Testament 
meaning. 

h. The unity of the distracted, divided Christian 
world as the only hope of the Christian religion, this 
unity to be accomplished by a return to the principles 
of the New Testament church as outlined in the New 
Testament Scriptures. 

The world is sick of division, and it is groping 
blindly toward some basis of union. It must be the 
work of the evangelist to do all in his power to assist 
in bringing about that union by a constant presenta- 
tion of the only true and permanent basis for union. 
If he has no real conviction about the correctness of 
this basis, he can not do a great deal toward accom- 
plishing the desired result. 

i. The glorious promise to the saint and the terrible 
warnings to the sinner. 

How comforting will be the preaching of the evan- 
gelist who can constantly remind men of what Jesus 
has promised to them if they will but forsake their 
sins and turn to Him. And how strong will be the 
preaching of that one who shuns not to declare in 



Qualifications and Training 77 

unmistakable tones the punishments which await the 
one who continues as a rebel against God. 

j. The Christian doctrine of stewardship. 

Increasingly apparent is it to all Christians that 
this doctrine has been sadly neglected in the years 
that are gone. We are just now beginning to give to 
it the rightful study which a doctrine so great and 
far-reaehingly important deserves. What an oppor- 
tunity the soul-winner has during the heated moments 
of revival, when the hearts of men are warmed to a 
greater degree than at any other time, to teach men 
their duty here to the kingdom of Christ. If we do 
not have convictions regarding a man and his money, 
we will fall far short of the high mark set for us 
as those who would be leaders in the work of winning 
men from their sins to the life that is blessed in 
Christ. 

VIII. The New Testament Evangelist Must Possess 
THE Quality of Generalship. 

(1) He must be able to think of a great number 
of things at one time. 

All the details of the plan of campaign must be 
carefully worked out, and they must be before him 
all the time. He may have an organization which 
will seem to be almost perfect, but at the same time 
he can not trust even the smallest detail to some one 
else without his own supervision. One can not expect 
people to know things intuitively. There is but one 
way to be sure that the plan of campaign works, and 
that is to work the plan of campaign. He must, 
therefore, have the capacity for thinking of many 
details at once. 



78 New Testament Evcmgelism 

(2) He must realize that men expect him to lead. 
They did not call him to come as a student to 

learn how to hold a meeting, but they called him 
because they thought he had the ability to lead in a 
great effort to win souls. He must, therefore, furnish 
the workable plans for the whole meeting, and then 
he must furnish the motive power to work those 
plans. What would you think of a general, to whom 
had been given the command of a great army of men, 
who went into battle without any plan of action? 
And yet there are many evangelists who go into a 
meeting without any plan of campaign, without any 
objective to reach. They simply go in, and in a 
haphazard manner they preach and expect men to 
hear and obey. The meeting which succeeds is one 
which is very definitely planned out, with certain 
objectives to be reached. I remember a preacher one 
time who wrote the evangelist the following words: 
**We want to do three things in this meeting: (a) 
We want to have at least two hundred additions to 
the membership; (&) we desire to raise $30,000 for 
the new church; and (c) we want to put on an every- 
member canvass so that our finances will be placed 
on the proper basis.'* Now, that minister was right. 
He had a program for his meeting, and consequently 
something to work to. If the pastor is not so enter- 
prising, it is ours, when we go into a new field, to 
find out after a careful survey just what is needed 
and then plan to accomplish those things. 

(3) He must possess the art of handling men 
diplomatically. 

And what an art this is! The one who knows how 
to handle men has the greatest quality needed by the 



Qualifications and Training 79 

general. Following are some principles which are of 
great value in the development of this art. 

a. Know just what your proposition is, and be able 
to state it clearly and forcibly. 

In other words, have in mind just the thing you 
desire to accomplish, and be able to tell the folks 
with whom you are to deal just what you mean, so 
that they can understand you. 

h. Always keep your self-control. 

The man who loses himself will not be able to 
hold his people. The first great principle in control- 
ling others is certainly this one that we be able to 
control ourselves. No matter what the opposition, if 
there be an opposition to your position, shall say, and 
no matter how much of spirit they may show in pre- 
senting their side of the case, never let that for a 
moment ruffle you. 

c. Always agree with your opposition just as far 
as possible without the sacrifice of principle. 

The ability to compromise without sacrificing any- 
thing is one of the first qualities of statesmanship. 
Give in as far as you can without really giving in at 
all, and you will go far in winning your point. 

d. Always compliment your opposition whenever 
you can. 

An adroit reference to some fine, sound principle 
as advocated by the opposition, or a sly compliment 
for the earnestness and honesty of the opponent, will 
many times so soften him that the point will be taken 
from his arrows and they will fall blunt and useless. 

e. If your proposition is to come up in a public 
way before any considerable number of people, it is 
well to have private conversation beforehand with any 



80 New Testament Evangelism 

who are likely to constitute an opposition. In this 
way many times an agreement can be reached before 
the matter is publicly considered. 

/. Be absolutely frank in whatever you have to say. 

This attitude will impress those with whom you 
have to deal with your sincerity, and the making of 
this impression is half the battle. Your hearers will 
feel that there is nothing hidden from them, but that 
you have frankly and fully explained the matter. 

(4) He must possess the quality of generalship if 
he is to hold great audiences of people. 

One can not be told how to handle an audience. 
There is a native endowment in this matter that is 
more powerful than all the instruction that might be 
given. However, a study of people, a study of the 
principles of psychology — especially crowd psychology 
— will be of great value to that one who is to be a 
winner of men. 

IX. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be One 
Who Is Willing to Work in the Humbler 

Sphere. 

(1) There is a danger in the work of the soul- 
winner that he may desire to be continually called 
to the large, well-established churches. 

It is always easier to have fine results in a church 
which has an influence in the community, a church 
to which belong the prominent citizens of the town. 
It is not so hard to induce men to become members 
of such an organization. The real test of a man is 
found, however, in his willingness to go anywhere 
for the Lord. It is much more pleasant to go to the 
congregation where the evangelist may be a social 



Qualifications and Training 81 

lion, where he will be dined and treated as the lead- 
ing social light of the season. Temptation comes 
often to us in a strange form. And this is a tempta- 
tion, to go always to those places where the work 
will be easy and the results will come without appar- 
ent effort. 

(2) There is also a danger that an evangelist 
may desire to go only to those who are cultivated 
and refined in their tastes. 

This perhaps is but natural, especially for the 
man who is highly educated. He desires, to be with 
those who are like himself, who have had the same 
advantages as he has enjoyed. There are many things 
in the life of a successful soul-winner which tend to 
make him an aristocrat. His education is a step in 
this direction. Then, also, as he succeeds he is invited 
into the churches of wealth and influence, and is 
thrown with those people who are of the aristocratic 
type. It is nice and he enjoys it, and he will find 
himself desiring to associate with these folks alone. 
He will, unless very careful, find that those who do 
not possess wealth and influence are not so interesting 
to him, and that he will more and more shun their 
company. There have been several very brilliant men 
in our own brotherhood who have had this temptation 
and have had to battle manfully against it. 

Ours is a wonderful calling, young men, in just 
the very democracy which has made the true minister 
of Christ a man of all men throughout the years. 
If we are to even approximate the ideal of the blessed 
Master, we can not for a moment allow ourselves 
to cater to any one class of men. It is wrong for 
the minister to have the class spirit, whether that 



82 New Testament Evcmgelism 

spirit be in favor of the man of wealth or whether 
it be in favor of the man of toil. He is a man for 
the whole wide world; his message is for all men, 
and he must be able to look through the veneer of 
culture and to see behind the barriers of wealth to 
the needy human heart, with all its sorrows, its cares, 
its longings for God. Wherever the most can be done 
for the Master, there the evangelist must go. He is a 
prophet of God, and a prophet knows only the world 
as his field. To him all men are alike in their value 
to the King. 

X. The New Testament Evangelist Must Be 
Possessed op Imagination. 

(1) The importance of imagination. 

Increasingly am I impressed with the fact that 
the real preacher must be a man with a vivid and 
ready imagination. The difference between the 
preacher who is vital and interesting, whose words 
always bring a crowd of enthusiastic hearers, and the 
one who is dry and dead is to be found just here. 
I heard a great teacher express the truth in exactly 
the right manner when he said: "What the modern 
preacher needs more than anything else is imagina- 
tion.*' Our whole attitude of mind has been some- 
what against the imaginative. We are a practical 
people in our work, and in our training for our work. 
This is a scientific age, and the scientific age, while 
having much to do with the imagination, yet fails 
often to create within man the type of imagination 
which the preacher needs. Imagination has been 
called *Hhe picture-making power of the mind." 
Napoleon summed up the matter when he said that 



Qualifications and Training 83 

'*men of imagination rule the world/' There never 
has been a great preacher in the history of the world 
but that he was endowed with this wonderful gift. 

(2) The nature of imagination. 

There are many divisions of the subject of imagi- 
nation. Some there are who think that there is a 
wide difference between the imagination and the 
fancy; others, and the larger number, believe that 
they are one and the same thing. The various types 
of imagination are also treated in different ways. The 
best division of the various types, however, seems to 
me the threefold one which is given by Dr. Snowden^ 
— the creative, the illustrative and the verbal. 

a. The creative imagination. 

That there is a creative imagination none will now 
deny, although there was once a large and influential 
class of psychologists who did not believe that there 
was any such thing as a creative form. In the sense, 
however, that the imagination can take the raw mate- 
rials of the world and make them into new forms, 
there is a creative type. The preacher uses the 
creative imagination when he takes the various mate- 
rials of discourse and creates them into a message 
of power and persuasiveness. The painter uses the 
creative imagination when he sees the wonderful 
masterpiece before it has been placed upon the canvas. 
The poet uses the same kind of imagination when he 
weaves the "beautiful drapery of his airy dreams.'* 
There is no longer any doubt but that not only is 
the imagination a creative thing, but that also there 
can be but little accomplishment in the realm of 
thought without that imagination which can build into 



I'The Psychology of Religion" (pp. 311-319). 



84 New Testament Evangelism 

greater and nobler forms of beauty the materials 
which are at hand. 

h. The illustrative imagination. 

The illustrative imagination is the form in which 
some truth of perhaps more or less an abstract nature 
is made more vivid by another truth. Frequently 
this takes the form of a description in vivid language 
of something which has been stated as a fact in 
briefer manner. Some truth not so clear to the mind 
is made a live and vital thing by some truth more 
familiar. The mind sees things in pictures, and the 
illustrative imagination consists in bringing the truth 
to the soul in the form of pictures which are familiar 
to the one to whom we desire the message to be 
brought. In the words of Snowden, ''Newton leaped 
from the apple to the moon, and saw from that fall- 
ing apple the falling of all the worlds into their 
centers, and bound the whole universe into unity. ' ' ' 
Jesus was a master in the use of the illustrative 
imagination. And how simple and understandable 
were the illustrations which He employed. We can 
reconstruct His world to-day from the descriptions 
He gives in His sermons. How seemingly com- 
monplace many of them are — the sea, the fish, the 
birds of the air, the salt, the bread, the sower, etc. 
Truly, ''He sent out a decree that the whole world 
should be taxed to furnish material for his messages." 
And of what tremendous value is this form of imagi- 
nation to the one who would win souls. He is dealing 
with all kinds of people in his audiences. They are 
from every condition of life. If he possesses the ability 
to bring to them the great truths of God through 



"The Psychology of Religion," Snowden (p. 315). 



Qualifications and Training 85 

familiar and striking illustrations, he will be effective 
in bringing them to that decision which will mean to 
them happiness here and eternal felicity hereafter. 
The art of true illustration is based upon a vivid 
and healthy imagination. 

c. The verbal imagination. 

This is the power of using words which will in 
themselves form pictures in the mind. The evangelist 
must be an artist in the use of those words which 
create mental images. How striking are some of the 
writings of the really great artists in our literature. 
I have come to think that perhaps their greatness 
and the enduring quality of their writings can be 
largely attributed to the fact that they pulsate with 
life, that they are ever fresh because they use such 
a multitude of words which in themselves are alive. 
Dr. Snowden, in his ''Psychology of Religion," has 
collected such a fine list of illustrations of the use 
of picture-making words that we can not refrain from 
using them here. Macaulay, in his great history, in 
speaking of some of the ordinary people of his time, 
says: ''History is silent about those who held the 
plough, who tended the oxen, who toiled at the looms 
at Norwich, and squared the Portland stone at St. 
Paul's." How striking is this passage! He might 
have said that history has little to say about the 
common people. The words used, however, are the 
type that stick because they form in the minds of 
his readers pictures of those people whose lives had 
been drab and drear. The words of Carlyle, that 
master in the art of the use of verbal imagination, 
concerning the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh are 
replete in the image-creating quality: "He was exe- 



86 New Testament Evangelism 

cuted on a cold, hoar-frosty morning/' Keats gives 
us a beautiful picture of Ruth in a land away from 
all the scenes she loved: 

**Wheii, sick for home, 
She stood ia tears amid the alien com." 

Or see again the great painting of Coleridge: 

''The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out; 
At one stride comes the dark. ' ' ^ 

If one, then, is to be really effective as a preacher, 
he should endeavor to use as many as possible of the 
picture-making words in his message. It is only thus 
that we can make the lasting impression upon the soul. 

(3) The utility of the imagination in evangelistic 
preaching. 

a. Imagination stimulates interest. 

There is life and movement and interest in the 
message of the man who knows how to use the imagi- 
nation. The hearer loves to see the truth in imagina- 
tive forms, and when it is known that a preacher 
knows how to employ his imagination he will never 
want for an audience. 

&. Imagination makes the scenes of the Bible times 
living and realistic. 

There is often the danger that we will make the 
characters of the Bible seem far away and out of 
touch somehow with our modern life. The Bible is 
a book of life. Its characters are men of flesh and 
blood. They are real, and the experiences which were 
theirs were real experiences. The art of making these 
characters live again to-day is an art which will lend 
itself to great success in the realm of soul-winning. 

1 "The Psychology of Religion" (pp. 311-319). 



Qualifications and Training 87 

Religious truth is necessarily abstract, and^ more than 
any other kind, it needs the brightening power of 
imagination. 

c. The imagination helps the preacher so to clothe 
the truth with flesh and blood that it will assist men 
to correct their faults. 

It helps the preacher to make men to see more 
clearly their faults, and it is necessary that we see 
them before we can correct them. The prodigal son 
saw himself as he really was. Imagination gave him 
an insight into his soul. It was this insight that made 
him cry: *'I will arise and go to my father." 

(4) The cultivation of the imagination. 

a. It is cultivated by the study of nature. 

There is no finer method in the cultivation of 
the imagination than the study of God's beautiful 
world and His wondrous universe. The hills and 
valleys, the lakes and mountains, old ocean's ''gray 
and melancholy waste," the winding rivers amid the 
pleasant fields, all speak to the open and receptive 
soul "a various language." There are few men who 
have a better opportunity than the general evangelist 
to study the great wonder spots of thp world. He is 
traveling constantly, and thus the chance comes fre- 
quently to see the most glorious things. Who can 
look upon the Grand Canyon, that terrible ditch 
thirteen miles wide and six thousand feet deep, with- 
out a profound sensation of awe and astonishment? 
Those millions of towers and cupolas, with the multi- 
tudinous, ever-changing colors, impress the soul with 
a deep sense of the sublimity of God, of His wonderful 
power and glory. No man will be the same man after 
looking once into the face of that stupendous chasm. 



88 New Testament Evangelism 

The colors of the mountains in autumn, their beauty 
and splendor when robed in garments of dazzling 
white, their pink and rose coats when the sun sets 
in the evening, all these experiences can not but 
stimulate the imagination and fill the soul with images 
of power and beauty. Do not neglect the study of 
God's great out-of-doors if you would see Him and 
know Him as He is. You can not receive a true 
conception of Him from old, dry theological books. 
No man can know God through some text-book on 
systematic theology. Go out where He dwells, in the 
hills, the mountains and the flowers, and know Him. 

h. It is cultivated by the study of art. 

No man can be an artist unless he is possessed of 
a strong imagination, unless he is capable of seeing 
things through the many-hued lens of the imagination. 
When, therefore, we study some great masterpiece, 
we are dissolving back into our own souls the dreams 
of the one whose brush traced the beauteous outlines 
before us. Some of the grandest hours of my own 
life have been those when, in some great gallery of 
art, I have stood drinking in the richness of some 
soul long since gone from this old world, but living 
and young in the wonders left behind on some small 
piece of canvas. It is soul communion with those 
who have thought deeply and lived much. 

c. It is cultivated by the study of literature. 

The treasures of art are not accessible to those of 
us in our own country, but we do have the men of 
literature. We can study the poets. And how rich 
in their ability to stir the imagination, to cultivate 
and stimulate the feelings, are the men and women 
of letters. *' Shakespeare sets the whole world in the 



Qualifications and Training 89 

light of his imagination, and we behold wondrous 
things. Victor Hugo can make us see the lock on a 
prison door so that we shudder at it, or describe the 
awful havoc created by a cannon torn loose from its 
moorings on the deck of a warship so that we instinc- 
tively feel like escaping from the monster as it 
pauses and 'meditates' for the next spring upon its 
victims. ' ' ' 

Not only is it well for us to read the great poets, 
but it will be of infinite value in stimulating the 
imagination if we will read the best writers in the 
realm of religion. I have always found that the 
reading of Canon Farrar helps me to live again the 
scenes of the Bible times, and assists in the making 
of those scenes real and vital to my audiences. Many 
times the most scholarly works are not the most bene- 
ficial. That which makes the message of the Lord a 
real and living thing is the study which in the long 
run will make for the greatest good in the work of 
the evangelist. 

d. The imagination is cultivated by the enjoyment 
of music. 

To those who are not musical, this may seem a 
strange statement, but music is emotion of the purest 
t>T)e, and emotion moves the imagination. 1 think it 
is the duty of every man who would win men, who 
would know the emotional deeps of the soul, to take 
every opportunity which offers itself to listen to the 
greatest musical artists. There is a refining power in 
music which helps to cultivate that which we call 
taste. It has somehow the ability to smooth down the 
rough places in a man's soul. Music also assists 



"The Piychology of Religion," Snowdea (p. 335). 



90 New Testament Evangelism 

miglitily in the formation of' those mental images 
which are so essential to the proper illustration of 
truth. 

This is but a short discussion of this fundamentally 
important thing, the imagination, but it will suffice 
in the present study if we emphasize its necessity, 
and refer the student to the glorious wealth of discus- 
sion of this subject in the works which have been 
written on psychology and preaching, or to the text- 
books on homiletics. 

XI. The New Testament Evangelist Must Possess 
THE Power of Moving Men to Action. 

(1) To do this he must impress men with the 
conviction that he himself is a man of strength, and 
that he believes tremendously the message which he 
brings. 

No half-hearted attempt will cause within men 
great and burning desires to serve the living God. 
The soul-winner must preach every sermon as though 
the words he spake were the very words of the living 
God Himself, and that, if they are disregarded by 
those who hear, eternal loss can be the only result. 
Moving power always depends upon absolute and 
unshakable conviction. And conviction will lend the 
right earnestness without which no lasting impression 
can be made. 

(2) To move men, the evangelist must have a 
tremendous and contagious enthusiasm. 

One can not be dry and dead in his delivery 
and bring people to decision. The greatest orators 
have been men who spake with speed. One can not 
be on fire with enthusiasm for the message which he 



Qualifications and Training 91 

brings and talk in a slow, quiet tone of voice. The 
face will become flushed, the eye will flash, and the 
words will come with the force of a rushing torrent. 
When one hears many of the preachers of our day, 
he wishes somehow that they could have some experi- 
ence which would take them out of the calm, quiet 
delivery which so many have thought was an evidence 
of a scholarly soul. One could wish at times that 
the preacher would make a blunder, that he would 
stumble or blurt out something which would shock 
his hearers, he is so regular, so correct, so lifeless, so 
null. One may hold a pastorate in some communities 
with this kind of a delivery, but he will not be a 
soul-winner. The man who wants to convert other 
men will come to them in that holy enthusiasm with 
which one who realizes what it means for a soul 
to be lost is always inspired. Don't be afraid to 
throw your whole life into the message. It takes 
a fire to kindle fire. 

(3) The evangelist must possess deep emotions if 
he is to move men. 

There is much here which is inherited, but those 
emotions which we do have may be deepened and cul- 
tivated. Tn other sections we have discussed this 
somewhat, and will but refer to it here. A sympathy 
with men, not alone with God, nor with a system of 
theology, nor yet with the Bible alone, but with men, 
a realization of how they live, a knowledge of their 
sufferings and trials, an interest in the things which 
interest them, will help to deepen a man's emotions 
so that he will have that power necessary to move 
the will to action. I do not think real emotion 
is the possession of any man until he has lived and 



92 New Testament Evangelism 

suffered. Perhaps this is the reason why so many 
young evangelists frequently do not possess this 
power to the same degree as those who are older in 
the work. I knew of one great, young preacher of 
the Word who, in the midst of a sermon one time, 
spoke harshly to a young mother who was somewhat 
slow in taking her crying babe from the building. 
He was a single man but a few years out of the 
college and on fire with zeal for the system he repre- 
sented. Years later, while in the same town where 
the harsh word had been spoken, a like situation 
occurred, but this time he spake only a word of kind- 
ness, a word that came with deep emotion. In the 
years which had intervened he had married, and his 
own little babe had been bom, but had sickened and 
died. His whole view of such things had changed. 
He now sympathized no less with his system of teach- 
ing, but he sympathized far more with men. One 
can not simulate emotion; he must himself feel it 
if he is to make others feel it. There have been 
many great thinkers in the field of evangelism whose 
education has been the finest, whose thinking has been 
clear and to the point, the click of whose logic has 
been as correct as a clock, but who have failed to win 
men because they were cold; their emotions were so 
buried that they could not bring to bear that subtle 
power which alone moves men to decision. Intellectu- 
ality alone will never move the world. 

Power is in control of the emotions even when we. 
feel deeply. It is weakness for one to break down 
and weep unreservedly before an audience. Keep 
your feelings under control, even though they are deep 
and readily stirred. This will make for great power. 



Qualifications and Training 93 

(4) The New Testament evangelist must be able 
to combine these various elements into a great appeal 
or exhortation. 

The art of exhortation is not now so widely- 
prevalent as formerly. People are the same and will 
respond as readily now as they did then. One reason 
for the decline of this power has been the indis- 
criminate use of personal workers in an invitation. 
The preacher leaves the exhortation to them. But the 
day for the great appeal has not passed, and those 
who are the really great soul-winners are without an 
exception men who know how to make a powerful 
appeal. One must work on the appeal if it is to be 
what it should be. We think of the sermon outline, 
and work that it may be builded according to all the 
correct principles, and frequently we leave the appeal 
to the inspiration of the moment of delivery. This 
produces an appeal which is monotonous. We get 
into the bad habit of closing every sermon in the same 
way. Let us not forget the purpose of the sermon. 
If it is kept constantly in mind, we will more and 
more work on the conclusion and the appeal that it 
may strike a sledge-hammer blow. Study the art of 
exhorting men, for this, after all, will be the deter- 
mining factor in your success as one who does *Hhe 
work of an evangelist,'' 



ni 

THE PREPARATION FOR THE MEETING 

AT least half the success of a meeting depends 
upon the preparation which is made by the 
pastor and people before the evangelist comes onto 
the field. And how great is the need of instruction 
along this line, for how insignificant is the prepara- 
tion usually made. Perhaps it is the fault of the 
local minister because of the fact that he has not been 
trained in these things, and consequently does not 
know how they should be done. Whatever the reason 
may be, it is a deplorable fact that the average pastor 
knows nothing at all about getting ready for a har- 
vest, and because he knows nothing about it he does 
nothing about it. A week or two which might be 
very profitably used for soul-winning is generally 
wasted, just because a great mass of details which 
might have been gotten out of the way are still 
uncared for. 

It is impossible to prepare for a great harvest of 
souls in a week. That preparation which will bring 
results for the kingdom of God will take a long time. 
One can not go out into the field to-day and sow 
the seed, and think that to-morrow's sun will do the 
work so that by evening the harvest may be garnered 
into the granary. God takes time to do things. A 
story is told of the young student who came to the 

94 



The Preparation for the Meeting 95 

professor to confer with him about his education. It 
was his desire to be a preacher of the gospel. When 
the professor asked him as to the time he wished to 
put into his studies, he replied: ''Well, I think, Pro- 
fessor, that I would be well prepared if I could take 
a three months' course." The great teacher, realizing 
that the boy needed at least ten years in school, 
pointed out of the window to a big, beautiful oak that 
stood on the brow of a hill, rearing its mighty form 
into the clear blue of the sky, and then quietly 
replied: ''My boy, it took God a long, long time to 
make that mighty oak from the tiny acorn. Years 
and years have passed by, the storms have roared 
about it and the winds have buffeted it, until to-day 
it stands there proud and strong, fit for spoke timber. 
God has taken time to do that which was worth while, 
but he can turn out a squash in three months." No 
really great meeting was ever held without fine prepa- 
ration on the part of the minister. So various and 
many-sided, however, is that preparation, and so 
numerous are the qualities that make for it and the 
elements which enter into it, that we can but skim 
the top of the subject in this lecture to-day. The 
real live pastor is preparing for a harvest in every 
call he makes; when he goes into the home where the 
dark cloud of sickness hovers, or into that one where 
the shadow of the grim monster Death has fallen. 
When he repeats the magic words which unite in 
marriage the young man and the bright, blushing 
girl at his side, he is preparing for the reaping of 
souls that shall take place by and by. His whole 
ministry is a preparation for the saving of souls, for 
his whole work is to make disciples of men and 



96 New Testament Evangelism 

bring them with contrite heart in obedience to the 
King. But it is a special phase of that preparation — 
shall we say an intensified phase of that prepara- 
tion? — ^with which we shall deal in this discussion. 

I. Preparing the Minister. 

Certainly the preacher's preparation should begin 
in the college or seminary days. We have already 
noted, and at some length, the necessity for such a 
training — for a training which shall emphasize the 
theoretical none the less, but rather the practical 
more. But if that preparation has not been given, 
and to-day, as a rule, it has been entirely lacking, 
what then? At least half the meeting can be held 
before the evangelist arrives, if the minister knows 
how to hold it. 

(1) The evangelist himself should assist in the 
preparation by forwarding his own plans to the 
minister. 

That one who is continually engaged in soul- 
winning is rightly supposed to know the methods 
which are most effective in stirring up the interest, 
not only of the church (for the interest must begin 
with the church), but also of the whole community. 
It is his business to send to the minister, and in plenty 
of time for the plans to be used effectively, suggestions 
which will best prepare the interest which he must 
have if he is win men. There are many evangelists 
who use slipshod methods, and, in spite of these meth-^ 
ods, make good in a big way, but these men are ex- 
ceptions to the rule. Much of the blame for poor 
preparation rests with the evangelist who has failed 
to send the minister workable plans. 



The Preparation for the Meeting 97 

(2) The pastor should not rely wholly upon the 
evangelist in sending him the plans for preparation. 
He must employ his own ingenuity. 

The fields of labor are so different that no stock 
set of plans can be universally used. The evangelist 
goes from the small-town church to the city with aU 
its perplexing problems. The plans which were used 
in the small-town church with success may be found 
to be inadequate in the church in the city. His 
natural ignorance of the field to which he is to go 
leaves the responsibility of that field's cultivation 
almost entirely upon the local pastor, whose residence 
there and labor with the people have made him 
acquainted with its possibilities. The pastor must, 
therefore, use his own ingenuity in getting men ready 
for the time of harvest. He must see that he himself 
is prepared in heart for the great time of soul- 
winning. He must see to it that his people are ready 
and eager for it. A well-known pastor friend of mine 
one time jokingly rebuked your speaker for not send- 
ing him a minute set of pre-meeting plans. I was 
forced to reply in the following language: ''You have 
been on this field for almost twenty years. You have 
succeeded wondrously well, and have builded a great 
city church. Those plans of yours, which have been 
so crowned with glad results for the kingdom of 
Christ, could certainly be trusted here. In a word, 
I have left some things to you, for I know you are 
well prepared and able to give your people plans 
which will succeed in the work we wish to do." My 
faith was not misplaced, for the first audience filled 
the building, and a great and lasting revival was made 
possible by his preparation. 



98 New Testament Evangelism 

(3) The pastor should examine himself before he 
tries to have a soul-winning campaign in the church 
of which he is a minister. 

a. He must believe in New Testament evangelism. 

No man can have a real evangelistic meeting in 
the church for which he ministers unless he believes 
in evangelism with all his heart. If he himself is not 
enthusiastic, he will not be able to arouse his people. 
No man who did not believe in the wisdom and 
absolute necessity of soul-winning has ever won souls. 
Unfortunately, there have been some in the past who 
have not believed in evangelism. Perhaps they have 
been disgusted by the claptrap methods of scourges 
of God masquerading under the name of evangelists, 
whose work has been characterized by cheap sensa- 
tionalism and appeals to the lower elements in the 
natures of men. The real preacher must be able to 
distinguish between the false and the true in this noble 
realm of endeavor, and he must not allow his faith 
in genuine evangelism to be shattered by those who 
have never known its true meaning. Faith in God's 
method of reaching men must be the fundamental if 
he is to have the efforts for the salvation of the lost 
to succeed. There is not a church in all our brother- 
hood to-day where it is impossible to hold a successful 
evangelistic campaign. There are some in which it is 
more difficult to win men than others, due to the dif- 
ferent problems to be solved and the more deter- 
mined opposition to be overcome, but God's plan 
will win anywhere if we ourselves will have the faith 
and courage and energy to try it. I have frequently 
heard that it is impossible to-day to hold a meeting 
in many of our city churches because the counter 



The Preparation for the Meeting 99 

attractions are so numerous that a mid-week audience 
can not be secured. I would answer this objection by 
saying that we must frankly admit that some places 
seem to be impossible, and in fact are impossible, as 
long as their present pastors have no faith. I have 
always found that where a minister has a determined 
belief in the power of the gospel, and an enthusiasm 
which can not be conquered by obstacles, he can so 
infuse his spirit into his congregation that the meet- 
ing will succeed, for where the congregation desires 
it to succeed there can be no failure. How much 
depends, young men, upon you? You are going out 
to be leaders of men for righteousness. Oh, may your 
faith be so strong and your confidence in the plan of 
the Lord so unshakable that you will be willing to 
try to win men, no matter where your lot may bo 
cast! Let not grim Discouragement get his clutches 
upon you because your field is vast and the labor is 
hard, for, if he does, your usefulness as a minister 
of Christ is ended. 

I must here speak of a little preacher friend of 
mine in one of the Southern States. He is small in 
stature, but great in heart and brain. His faith 
was beautiful to see, and his enthusiasm was so con- 
tagious that he swept his people with him in every 
undertaking which he espoused. He was called to 
the pastorate of an aristocratic old Southern church 
in which a successful soul-winning campaign had never 
been held. He secretly determined, however, that a 
meeting should be held in that church, and that it 
should be a successful one. For more than a year he 
planned for it, and talked it to his people until, when 
the evangelist arrived on the field, the people were 



100 New Testament Evangelism 

so anxious to come into the church that the very first 
invitation was a veritable landslide. The meeting 
continued unto a glorious conclusion. He had faith 
that it could be done. 

h. The minister should be sure that he enters d 
soul-winning campaign with pure motives. 

Why does he desire a meeting in his congrega- 
tion? A minister in a Western church for more 
than two years had been having trouble with his 
people. The other churches of the city were forging 
ahead of the church of which he was minister, and his 
people, seeing it, had become dissatisfied. The mutter- 
ings had grown into a positive desire on the part of 
three-fourths of the church for his resignation. The 
minister, however, liked the town and was loath to 
leave. Finally the official board asked for his resigna- 
tion, but, by using political methods utterly disgrace- 
ful to the whole cause of Christ, he was successful in 
staying for a longer time. At last a brilliant solution 
to his problem came to him. He would call the lead- 
ing evangelist of the brotherhood and gather a large 
number of new members into the fold. These new 
people would be bound to him and would support 
him against the older ones who were clamoring for 
his departure. The evangelist was called and the 
meeting was held. In spite of the motives of the 
minister, it was a successful meeting, though it 
resulted in the very thing which he feared would 
come to pass: he was forced to resign, and another 
man, who could do the work, was called to succeed 
him. He was bold enough, however, to ask the evan- 
gelist to stand for him against the whole church, so 
that he might be retained in his position. A man 



The Preparation for the Meeting 101 

who would so prostitute the work of Christ to his 
own ends is unworthy of the name "a minister of 
the gospel." His motive was impure. It is a sad 
thing, but this case is not an isolated one; the fre- 
quency of just such occurrences has many times 
caused all the true saints of God to blush with shame. 
The pastor must so ardently desire to see men saved 
that he is willing to do anything in his power to 
bring them into the green pastures. Only such a 
motive is high enough to actuate him in calling to 
his assistance one who is a New Testament evangelist. 

c. The minister must feel that he is big enough 
to meet the new conditions and responsibilities which 
a real revival of religion will bring to his flock. 

The church will not be the same church after the 
meeting is over. If the right kind of a meeting has 
been held, it will be a vastly more efficient and 
spiritual body than it was before. Its audiences will 
be larger, its demands upon his time and energy will 
be greater. If he is alert, it will make him a greater 
preacher, a more effective pastor, and a leader of men 
whose counsel and advice will be more frequently 
sought and more faithfully followed. He must spend 
much time in prayer that God may give him the 
strength and wisdom to meet the conditions as they 
come to him with an increased membership and a 
deepened interest in divine things. He will not be 
the pastor of the same church which went into the 
meeting, for it will be a more glorious church with 
a vastly enlarged future. Unless he is willing to 
meet such changes, unless he feels himself adequate 
to them, he should not enter into an intensified soul- 
winning campaign. 



102 New Testament Evangelism 

II. Preparing the Church. 

The final success of the meeting depends upon the 
work of the church during the campaign. The greater 
the number of workers in the congregation, the greater 
the number of additions to the church. The more 
perfect the preparation of the people of the kingdom 
for the battle for souls, the more successful will be 
the victory in that battle. The most glaring weak- 
ness in the average evangelistic effort to-day is the 
lack of real work on the part of the membership. 
As a rule, the minister and the evangelists hold the 
meeting. Fundamentally important, therefore, is the 
question, How may the church of Christ be best pre- 
pared for a soul-winning campaign? 

1. The Church Must Be Prepared Spiritually. 

A spiritual church can always hold a successful 
meeting. Men and women of the world have a respect 
for the church whose members are of clean life and 
irreproachable character. They will desire to become 
members of a church where they have reason to 
believe the true spirit of Christ dwells. The church 
which has a bad name because of quarrels and fights 
among its members will scarcely have the cheek to 
ask self-respecting men and women to come and join 
it. We must clean up if we are to give power to the 
message which we preach. 

(1) The church-members must love each other, and 
a spirit of harmony must prevail, if souls are to be 
won. 

I have no patience with the theory that a great 
evangelistic meeting is the time to fix up fights in the 
church. Such an attitude is absolutely at variance 



The Preparation for the Meeting 103 

with the spirit of Christ. If there are misunderstand- 
ings and jealousies among brethren, they must be 
cleared up before a forward movement along the 
lines of soul-winning can be made. Great is the 
responsibility of the bishops and the minister here 
to see that such hindrances to success are done away 
before the outside workers are called. I remember 
an experience in my early ministry which impressed 
upon my mind this prime necessity of harmony 
among brethren. A church in the West had had 
trouble among its members until two factions had 
resulted, calling themselves the ** Forty" and *'The 
Hundred and Five." One faction would not speak 
to the other, and vice versa. The attempted evan- 
gelistic meeting resulted in a dismal failure because 
no one in the community desired to be connected with 
a church so notorious for trouble. 

(2) The church that would win souls must cleanse 
itself from its worldliness. 

The curse of the modern church to-day is worldly 
living. Church-members are so busy with social 
engagements that they have no time for the church 
of God. It is a frequent experience of the evangelist 
to find members of the church who will give dances 
and card parties right during the time of the meet- 
ing. Many are so tied up with fraternal orders that 
the church, with them, is secondary. I do not mean 
for a moment to speak in a disparaging manner of 
the fraternal orders, for I firmly believe that they 
have an important place in our modern life, but 
certainly that place is not first in the life of a true- 
blue Christian. How can we get the Christian of 
to-day to concentrate long enough to have a real season 



104 New Testament Evangelism 

of soul-saving? The answer to this question is the 
key to the greatest revival of modem times. In a 
recent campaign the wife of one of the deacons invited 
one of the new members to attend a dance at her 
home. And the strange thing about it was that the 
woman seemed to have no conscience at all about the 
fact that while she was inviting people to a revel at 
her home, the church of Christ, in which her own 
husband was an officer, was trying to call men and 
women to repentance. It is distressingly evident that 
the greatest danger of the church of God to-day is 
not the danger from the infidel, for his day is past; 
it is not the danger from the destructive critic, though 
he has tried earnestly to undermine the very funda- 
mentals of faith; the gravest danger is from the world- 
liness of those who profess to wear the name of 
Christ. James had it right when he defined pure and 
undefiled religion before God and the Father as the 
work of visiting the fatherless and widows in their 
affliction, and *'to keep oneself unspotted from the 
world'' (Jas. 1:27). The greatest church that I know 
is one in which no one who has any official position 
whatever can dance or play cards or do anything 
that will bring the church of God in disrepute before 
the world. That church is a leader in missions and 
benevolences, and has additions to its membership 
continually. The audiences are so large that many 
are turned away at every service. The people of the 
community know that the members of that congrega- 
tion stand for the truth and for lives which are 
righteous and pure. It is an easy thing to have a 
great soul-winning campaign in such a congregation 
because the people of the city are anxious to become 



The Preparation for the Meeting 105 

members of a church which really stands for some- 
thing fine. 

(3) The church which would win souls must desire 
a meeting. 

There is but little to be gained in an attempt 
unless it is backed by the ardent desire of the whole 
congregation. I can best illustrate the meaning of 
this statement by the experience of a certain great 
Kansas church. In the spring of one year the min- 
ister, a godly man and one who was earnest in his 
desire to save souls, called a noted evangelist to assist 
him in a meeting. The members of the church were 
not interested in the plan and they were unwilling to 
support it. They were opposed to the minister, and 
were hoping that he would resign, hence they simply 
were indifferent to the effort. The evangelist was a 
great preacher of the Word; he was an exhorter of 
ability. The whole evangelistic company worked hard, 
as did fhe minister, but the meeting was not a success. 
The people did not attend, and they did not try to get 
their unconverted friends to attend. One year passed 
by and the minister had resigned and moved away. A 
new man was called, whom the people loved and who 
was able to stir them to an enthusiastic desire for 
soul-saving. In a great effort of home forces about 
three hundred men and women were brought into 
the church. Not quite a year had elapsed between 
the two attempts. The people in the last case desired 
the meeting, and were consequently willing to work 
for its success. 

(4) The church which would win souls must be 
taught to pray for the success of the efforts which 
are to be put forth. 



106 New Testament Evcmgelism 

There can be no lasting revival of religion unless 
it is born in a prayer-meeting. When the minister 
can get the church of God to desire souls and then 
to get on its knees, there can be but one result. I 
have never known a praying church to fail. Some- 
how it is impossible for a man to pray for a fellow- 
man and then be indifferent about that man. It may 
be that this is the very manner in which the Father 
answers our prayers, but it is certain that when we 
really begin to pray for the lost it is not very long 
until we are finding ourselves going personally to 
those who need the Saviour and pleading with them 
to accept Him. It is a good thing, therefore, in pre- 
paring for the meeting to have frequent seasons of 
prayer in which as many as possible of the church 
can take part. Another fine plan is the cottage 
prayer-meeting. These should be held in various parts 
of the city and always before the meeting begins. 
It is a mistake to wait until after the meeting has 
started and then have a great many prayer-meetings. 
While the people should continue their prayers, yet 
after the campaign has started they should spend 
the same time that they would have spent in attend- 
ing cottage prayer-meetings in visiting the prospects 
and urging upon them that they surrender to the 
Lord. In the prayer-meeting before the meeting 
begins, the names of the various prospects in that 
immediate community where the prayer-meeting is 
held should be mentioned and discussed and remem- 
bered in prayer. In this manner an intense interest 
is awakened in the souls of those who are unsaved, 
and the people of the church, through the discussions, 
have learned who the prospectives are. There is no 



The Preparation for the Meeting 107 

finer way to prepare the church spiritually than to 
get its members to pray for the souls of the uncon- 
verted. It is also a fine thing for the minister to 
have the people pray for the evangelist that he may 
preach the word of God with power and earnestness, 
and that all his helpers may do their part in the most 
persuasive and effective manner. This gets the people 
in the habit of thinking about the leaders, and conse- 
quently stirs up a greater interest. 

(5) The church which would win souls must be 
taught that it means work. 

It means that there must be much walking from 
place to place and much visiting, in order that the 
folks may be brought under the sound of the gospel 
message. An evangelistic campaign is not a time of 
entertainment. It is not merely a social season. I 
know of many churches which hold their annual meet- 
ing in order that they may have a grand social time. 
They do not expect many additions and they do not 
plan for them. They simply plan for a great season 
of visiting and eating. They want the preacher to 
be a good social lion and an orator. They desire to 
have their imaginations stirred by his flights of 
oratory. It is a time to be entertained and not a 
time of work. The ideal of the true evangelistic 
meeting is one of intense labor for the kingdom of 
God. While there is a social side to it, and while that 
side is certainly a very necessary and important one, 
yet the main purpose is the salvation of souls, and 
the salvation of souls means work. 

2. The Preparatory Preaching for the Meeting. 

There is nothing more important in a correct 
preparation than the preaching which the minister 



108 New Testament Evangelism 

does before the campaign begins. He should empha- 
size these things that we have mentioned in the imme- 
diately preceding sections. His preaching should be 
evangelistic and enthusiastic, so that by the time for 
the beginning of the campaign the people are on their 
tiptoes with expectancy. He should earnestly plead 
with them for weeks that they sidetrack everything 
which will keep them away from the services of the 
Lord's house. All social engagements, both afternoon 
and evening, must be out of the way. Let the min- 
ister whom the people have known and loved, because 
he has been their trusted counselor and friend, 
emphasize these things, and they will have such con- 
fidence in him that they will follow his suggestion. 
Social affairs in the afternoons, even though they 
might not directly interfere with the service itself, 
have such a wearing effect on the people that they 
are frequently absent from the service that night. 
If the people can be taught in this preliminary preach- 
ing that everything aside from that very business or 
work upon which their living depends must be side- 
tracked for the campaign, and their whole interest 
concentrated upon the thing in hand, it will be easy 
to win a wonderful victory. It is also well for the 
minister to insist that even those social functions 
which have a religious significance, such as class 
parties, meetings of the missionary society, etc., be 
reduced to the very minimum in the number of their 
meetings. I have many times noticed that on the 
evening after the meeting of the women's missionary 
society there were very few of those who had attended 
that service present for the evening evangelistic ser- 
vice. Generally speaking, such affairs are so long 



The Preparation for the Meeting 109 

drawn out, taking practically the whole afternoon, 
and the ladies so tired out after it is over, that they 
remain at home in the evening. The minister can 
very tactfully bring out the necessity for a reduction 
in number of such meetings, in order that energy may 
be conserved for the main thing in hand. It is only 
necessary that the people understand the reason for 
such requests, for they are anxious to do the right 
thing for the success of the church, and there are 
none, as a rule, who desire this more than those who 
are members of the various missionary organizations 
of the congregation. It is also well for the pastor to 
see that all meetings of Boy Scout organizations, etc., 
are arranged so that the boys may attend the evan- 
gelistic services. One of the crying needs of our 
modern church life is the indoctrinization of our boys 
and girls. 

In his preaching preparatory to the meeting, the 
pastor should also emphasize the beauty and the 
necessity of personal work, if the meeting is to be an 
assured success. He can so emphasize this part of 
the work that the people will be eager to participate 
in it. He should also speak of the relation between 
children and the kingdom of Christ, and show the 
parents that youth is the time to allow their children 
to confess the Saviour and obey Him. That which 
so often stands as the worst barrier in the way of the 
children and their obedience to Christ, parental objec- 
tion, can be, and should be, largely removed before 
the meeting begins. 

3. Preparatory Announcements of the Meeting. 

I was once called by a well-known pastor to con- 
duct a meeting in a great Southern church. Although 



110 New Tesiament Evangelism 

the meeting had been planned for a year, the uni- 
versal testimony of those who had heard was that the 
minister had announced the meeting just twice in all 
that time. He had announced it once when the final 
arrangements which assured the meeting were com- 
pleted, and once just one week before the evangelist 
arrived. Was it any wonder that there were many 
who did not even know that a meeting was contem- 
plated until it was half over? The minister should 
announce the meeting for weeks, and even months, 
ahead. Not only so, but he should become enthusiastic 
over it. He should know his evangelist before he calls 
him, and then say all the good things about him 
possible. The more enthusiastic he becomes, the more 
enthusiastic will his people be. The members of the 
flock should feel that the thing uppermost in the 
mind of their pastor is the forthcoming evangelistic 
meeting, and that it would be a matter of genuine 
sorrow to him if anything should happen which would 
in any way mar its success. If, however, he announces 
the meeting in a half-hearted way, the people will not 
think that he cares much about it, and his half- 
heartedness will be reflected in their lack of interest 
in the campaign. 

4. Preparing the Personal Workers. 

A full exposition of the necessity of a personal 
workers' class will be given in the lecture on ** Per- 
sonal Work," hence we will not take the time to 
consider it here, more than to remark that its moving 
spirit, as in the case of almost everything else in the 
church of Christ, must be the minister. The creation 
and training of a class of consecrated men and women, 
who are truly prepared in the realm of personal 



The Preparation for the Meeting 111 

evangelism, will mean scores of souls garnered into the 
fold of the Lord. This is certainly one of the most 
important matters to be attended to before the meet- 
ing begins. It should also be remembered that this 
work can not be done in a day or a week, but that it 
requires long and faithful attention, if it is to be 
done in the right way. 

5. Practical Preparation for the Meeting. 

How tremendously important is this phase of the 
pre-meeting preparation, and how little, and at times 
how LQdifferent, is the consideration it has received. 
This part of the work, like so much of the rest of it, 
has to do with details, and the majority of us hate 
details. And yet outstanding work has been made pos- 
sible only by the attention to details. Faithful attention 
to it will make the work go off smoothly, and valuable 
time, which might be used in things more important 
later on, will be saved. Some suggestions dealing with 
such practical preparation will be here noted. 

(1) Have the organ and pianos tuned together, for 
it is very probable that they will be used together in 
the meeting. Generally the church waits until the meet- 
ing has been going for several days before this work is 
done, when it might just as well have been done a few 
days before. 

(2) Organize a great evangelistic chorus, and have 
it ready when the song evangelist comes. There is no 
need of waiting for a week to get a choir ready. People 
love to sing, and a little enthusiastic work will bring 
together a large number who will be willing to help in 
this necessary part of the service. It is a good plan 
to have a neat invitation printed and sent to all those 
who would be likely to assist in singing. This person- 



112 New Testament Evangelism 

alizes the matter and secures a much more cheerful and 
ready response. 

(3) Secure a good evangelistic song-book, if the 
church does not already possess one. It is better for 
the church to buy the book before the meeting begins 
than to ask the evangelist to bring one with him. It 
is not a good thing to make the meeting a place for the 
selling of song-books. Be sure that the book has a large 
number of great, stirring evangelistic songs and also a 
good variety of Scripture readings. It is well to consult 
with the evangelist as to the book to purchase. Do this 
before the meeting begins, and do not waste a lot of 
time waiting for song-books when souls are hanging in 
the balance. 

(4) Secure good organists and pianists who can be 
at every service. This matter can not be too much 
emphasized. Poor musicians have often spoiled an 
otherwise splendid service. Faithfulness in attendance 
is also a prime requisite. They must be at every ser- 
vice and on time. 

(5) If the platform needs to be enlarged for the 
accommodation of the evangelistic chorus, see that this 
is done before the meeting begins. Many platforms 
are not made for soul-winning. In fact, when we look 
at some platforms and choir lofts, we wonder what 
they were made for anyway. Sometimes the chorus 
box is one of those shelf affairs ten or twelve feet 
above the preacher's head. The man who would plan 
such an abomination really should be sent to the StatQ 
prison for life. I have often wondered if the Lord 
will ever forgive some men for the crimes they have 
committed in the name of church architecture. Plat- 
forms are often fearfully and wonderfully made. 



The Preparation for the Meeting 113 

(6) All young people who play instruments, and 
who might be interested in an orchestra, should be 
invited and enrolled for such work. This will be 
found to be a very attractive and a very helpful addi- 
tion to the meeting, and it will not be a difficult 
matter to secure the musicians if a determined and 
honest effort is made. 

(7) Everything which, even though of a religious 
nature and perhaps a part of the church life, but 
which by its character would interfere with the prog- 
ress of the meeting, should be postponed until the 
campaign is over. In a certain far- Western church, 
for illustration, the every-member canvass was made 
during the first part of the meeting. Now, it is well 
known to all soul-winners of experience that you can 
not raise money and get decisions for the Lord at the 
same time. The every-member canvass could have 
been made, and in a far more successful manner, 
after the meeting closed. The added strength of a 
large number of new converts could then have been 
secured, and the effort to win those new converts 
would not have been interfered with. In another 
meeting the first Lord's Day night was used for a 
musical program, which, though it was beautiful and 
at another time would have been very opportune, was 
absolutely out of place in the first of a meeting. All 
the power of a great Lord's Day evening evangelistic 
service was lost. The meeting is no time for the 
consideration of a lot of things which in their interest 
are extraneous to the thing upon which the whole mind 
of the church and community must be concentrated, 
if the effort is to succeed in a glorious way. You 
can not divide interest and bring men to decide for 



114 New Testament Evangelism 

their Lord. Clear the deck for action before the 
battle begins, and you will have won at least half of 
the victory. 

III. Preparing the Community. 

Since the preparation of the community is really 
accomplished by seeing to it that every one knows 
about the coming meeting, and in listing those in the 
community who will be prospectives for the workers, 
we will confine ourselves to these two phases of the 
subject, considering first of all the advertising through 
which the interest is secured and the canvass through 
which the information for the personal workers is 
gathered. 

1. The Preliminary Advertising. 

(1) The necessity for it. 

It might be thought strange that we should think 
of speaking about the necessity for preliminary adver-- 
tising. And yet, while in a nominal way we are 
all of us convinced that some sort of advertising is 
necessary, as to the intensity of it and the volume 
of it we are not always so sure. In other words, 
while we believe in it, we do not always know how 
much of it to do in order to get results. It is not 
enough for the people in the community to know that 
there is going to be an evangelistic meeting held in 
the church, but the advertising must be of such a 
nature that they will feel that that meeting is going 
to be of such wonderful interest that they must 
attend, and begin their attendance the very first night. 
The preliminary advertising is not only to let people 
know about the meeting, but to stimulate their interest 
in it. The intensity and volume of that advertising, 



The Preparation for the Meeting 115 

therefore, will be determined by this later considera- 
tion more than by the former. 

(2) The kind of advertising necessary. 

One of the greatest compliments which your 
speaker has ever received as an evangelist was an 
invitation to address a large and influential ad. club 
in a New Mexico town, on *'The Psychology of 
Advertising." Those extending the invitation said 
they were prompted in their action by the fine manner 
in which the meeting then in progress had been adver- 
tised to the community. 

a. The advertising should be new, if possible. In 
this age it is the new thing which catches the eye. 
Men are constantly looking for something which is out 
of the ordinary, and if just a touch of that element 
can be given to the advertising of the meeting it will 
more quickly catch the eye of the people. We soon 
become accustomed to the usual thing and its effect 
is decreasingly felt. 

h. The advertising should be accommodated to the 
class of people with whom the meeting is to deal. 
For illustration, in a certain town made up almost 
exclusively of railroad men, a sign was placed upon 
the walls of one of the shops in the railroad yards 
depicting a long procession of characters well known 
through the pages of the comic section of the Sunday 
papers. Father Jiggs, Happy Hooligan, the Katzen- 
jammers and Mutt and Jeff were all going with anxious 
haste toward a church building, and on the building 
was the name of the church in which a great meeting 
was being held. Crowds of men were constantly 
around this sign, and they attended the services too. 
Now, this type of sign would not have succeeded in 



116 New Testament Evangelism 

a wealthy residential section of the town, and it would 
have been entirely out of place to put it there. Some- 
thing of the nature, however, would have appealed 
also to high-school boys and girls, and would have 
succeeded in arousing that very interest so vital to 
success. 

c. In all preliminary advertising cuts should be 
used. It is well not only to have the pictures of the 
evangelists and their helpers, but the pastor's picture 
should also be featured as much as possible, as should 
that of the church. The use of cuts of the pastor 
and of the church localizes it and tells every one 
exactly where the meeting is to be held and under 
whose leadership. Frequently the mistake is made of 
featuring the evangelists, when a popular pastor, who 
has been long on the field and is known and loved by 
thousands, is left out. This is an evidence of very 
poor advertising sense. A cut arouses interest, while 
the statements on the card, or in the article, or what- 
ever form may be used, give the information. 

d. The advertising should be dignified. It must be 
striking without being cheap. "We can get many 
valuable suggestions from the ads in the papers of 
the day. Some article of great value is advertised in 
a few words and in a fine, dignified style. It is 
immediately commended to the best people. Some old 
firm, which is universally known because of the quality 
of its goods, will be advertised in a rather quiet 
ad., while some corn-plaster or some quack doctor will 
have half a page of material in loud and exaggerated 
style. It looks cheap and it is cheap. A sensational 
evangelist, who used the flashy type of advertising, 
came out in a big ad. in a certain Western town, 



The Preparation for the Meeting 117 

with the following statement immediately under his 
picture, in which he was portrayed in a white suit of 
clothes, and wearing a big, broad-brimmed hat, though 
it was midwinter: 

*' HELLO, FOLKS! HOW IS YOUR GIZZARD?" THIS 
WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF BILL SMITH, THE WILD 
WEST EVANGELIST. SUBJECT TO-MORROW NIGHT, 
^'WHY LITTLE IVIARY FELL OUT OF BED." 

Come on, folks, don't miss Bill. He is a sure-enough Jiowlin*, 
fightin', sin-Mllin' go-getter. 

Now, the people of the town, which, though it was 
in the so-called Wild West, was a city of culture, were 
not even amused. They did not go to hear ''Wild 
Bill," for they felt that a preacher of the gospel had 
too many great gospel themes to discuss to waste his 
time with a lot of cheap, sensational rot. If dignified, 
thinking people are to be reached, and only such will 
build the church of God, they must be appealed to 
in a dignified way. Cheap advertising will stamp the 
evangelist, even before he arrives, as a cheap sensa- 
tionalist, and the best people will not go to hear him. 

(3) Some practical suggestions for advertising the 
meeting. 

a. The use of the newspapers. 

Our age is a newspaper age. Not only do all the 
people read the newspapers, but they read all the 
news that the papers bring. It is surprising how the 
newspapers have become so universal, and how care- 
fully they are read by all the people. It goes without 
saying, therefore, that the very best way to reach the 
greatest number of people is to reach them through 
the newspaper. There are several forms of newpaper 
advertising. 



118 New Testament Evangelism 

(a) Display ads. 

If the newspapers are to be expected to give space 
for stories about the meeting, the church should spend 
some money with them in paid advertising. The dis- 
play ad. is a form which is very widely used and one 
which very quickly catches the eye. These ads should 
contain as few words as possible to bring the thought 
to the eye and mind. A good cut should always be 
used in this form of advertising. Generally speaking, 
the back page of the newspaper is the best. People 
generaly read the front page and then turn the paper 
over and read the back page; hence it is always well, 
even though a little more must be paid for it, to get 
on the back page. The next one in order of value 
is the first inside page. The frequency of display ads 
must of course be determined by the price of the 
service and the ability of the church to pay for it. 
Whenever it is possible, it will pay to have an ad. 
in each paper and every day. The ad. should not be 
the same every day, for soon it will, like everything 
else which we see constantly, become old. There 
should be something new in it each day so as to attract 
the attention. If nothing else, the subjects can be 
changed. In our work we have always made the 
newspaper advertising take the first place. 

(6) Eeaders. 

These lines of advertising are of value. Down 
through the reading-matter of the papers, especially 
through the locals, in bolder type than that around 
it, will be found a statement advertising the meeting, 
as, for instance, ''Attend the evangelistic meeting at 
the First Church of Christ to-night." While this 
plan is good, I do not believe that it is quite as good 



The Preparation for the Meeting 119 

as the display ad. It is used to better advantage in 
the smaller town, where the locals in the paper pre- 
dominate and where every one reads them. The larger 
the city, and consequently the larger the paper, the 
less the locals are read and the less value this form 
of advertising has. 

(c) Stories in the papers, both before the meeting 
and every day after until it closes. 

There is one fact about this form of advertising 
which must be remembered, and that is that if it is 
well written the people will read it. The average self- 
respecting newspaper to-day will not give much atten- 
tion to stories which are telephoned into the office or 
are simply repeated verbally. If some one in the 
meeting will see to it that a fine article is typewritten 
each day, on neat paper, lines double spaced, and 
words corrected, and then take the article to the office 
in plenty of time, the paper, as a rule, will give fine 
space and headline to it. The fact of the matter is 
that many have imposed shamefully upon the papers 
in the past, and such impositions on the part of the 
church have sometimes made it harder on the innocent 
party. It has always been my plan to become per- 
sonally acquainted with the editors ; to drop in occa- 
sionally and chat with them and make them feel that 
I am interested in their work. In this way we have 
found that we generally have all the space for stories 
that we need. 

The story should not be written from the preacher 
standpoint, but it should be written as a reporter, 
dropping in on the meeting, would write it. Try to 
get the view of the outsider; look for those things 
which have news value; get hold of the statements 



120 New Testament Evangelism 

which have a universal application — and you will get 
into the papers. Anything which might be construed 
to be of a controverted theme should not be written 
up for the papers unless the church is willing to 
offer, at least, to pay for it. 

The pre-meeting stories should be frequent and 
should deal with the plans of the church for the 
meeting, that the whole community may be benefited 
and men and women be made better. The accomplish- 
ment of the evangelists who are to come should be 
made a prominent feature, together with anything 
which makes those evangelists outstanding in their 
work, such as training, age, experience and the like. 
Anything about them which will arouse interest and 
make the people come to hear them should certainly 
be included in the story. 

&. Window cards may always be used to good 
advantage in advertising the meeting. 

This is an old plan, but it is ever a good one. It 
is psychological, for the people will always look into 
the windows of the business houses. This plan will 
not succeed so well in the large city, but in the city 
of medium size and the smaller town it will be found 
to be a very fine way of attracting attention and of 
arousing interest. This card should not be too small 
and should conform to the general rules mentioned 
above. It should contain the cuts of the evangelists, 
and the pastor of the church, if possible; its message 
should be couched in as few words as possible, and it 
should be dignified in its language and arrangement. 
The time and place of the meeting must always be 
made prominent. Difficulty may sometimes be experi- 
enced in getting these cards into the windows, depend- 



The Preparation for the Meeting 121 

ing somewhat upon the popularity of the minister 
and the church. Generally, however, the business men 
like to promote anything which is for the uplift and 
betterment of the community, and will lend their 
ready and cheerful consent. 

c. Lawn signs. 

This form of advertising is very fine in a climate 
in which there is not much rain, or at that season of 
the year in a rainy climate when there is no danger 
that it will be spoiled by showers. In exactly the 
same manner as a ''For Sale" sign is made, a num- 
ber, say for convenience one hundred lawn signs, 
should be constructed. The best material for this is 
box shook. Make a hundred sharpened stakes, and 
nail the board or piece of shook about an inch from 
the top of the stake. This is done so that the com- 
pleted sign may not be spoiled by striking it with a 
hammer, and there is danger of doing this very thing 
unless some of the top of the stake protrudes above 
the board. Now, from the same form from which the 
window cards were printed, have a hundred or more 
impressions made on paper. Paste these impressions 
onto the box shook (never nail them on, for the wind 
will whip them off in a few hours) with flour paste. 
When they are dry, place them all over the city in 
the middle of the best lawns or gardens. This method 
always attracts immediate and favorable attention. 

d. Cards for homes and autos. 

The same window card used in the business dis- 
trict can also be used in the windows of the homes. 
Paper impressions can be pasted upon the windshields 
of the automobiles. This is an effective way to bring 
the meeting constantly to the attention of the people. 



122 New Testament Evangelism 

for they see the autos as moving objects and the signs 
more quickly attract them. 

e. Street banners, or banners on the church build- 
ing. 

Where this method can be used it will be found 
to be very fine. If there is no city ordinance against 
stringing a banner across the street, one can be used 
with great effectiveness. It is just new enough, and 
out of ordinary enough, to bring the meeting forcibly 
to the attention of all. The very size of it is a fine 
psychological suggestion as to the size and importance 
of the meeting. The people somehow feel that that 
which is advertised in a big way is worth while. 

/. Signs on the street-cars. 

Cloth signs advertising the meeting may be used 
with good effect on the street-cars. They should be 
printed in red and black and in reasonably large 
letters, so that all can read them quickly and easily. 
The thing to be emphasized is the place and time of 
the meeting. On the cars which pass the church, or 
near it, there should be signs which call attention to 
the fact that said car is the one to take in order to 
reach the evangelistic meeting. 

g. Street signs. 

The street sign which we have in mind here is a 
changeable one, one which can be altered several times 
a week if necessary. These are made of boards hinged 
together at the top so that when standing erect they 
have the shape of a V. On each side of the com- 
pleted sign-board, paper signs can be tacked with 
thumb tacks. The ingenuity of the maker of these 
signs must be used in creating attractive sentences 
and pictures so that all may be immediately interested 



The Preparation for the Meeting 123 

as they read. These signs should be placed at prom- 
inent corners, near banks, post-offices, etc. 

h. Blotters for the schools. 

One side of these blotters should carry an adver- 
tisement of the meeting, couched in enthusiastic terms 
and destined to be attractive to adolescents. These 
blotters should then be taken to the various schools 
and placed on the desks. This plan is sometimes also 
quite effective when used in connection with offices 
and public places where people assemble and write 
letters, etc., such as post-offices and hotels. 

There are many other plans for advertising the 
meeting before the community and plans which fulfill 
the purpose of true advertising, but I trust these sug- 
gestions will be sufficient to help any who may not 
have had any experience in work of this nature. 

2. The Religious Census as a Preparation for the 
Meeting. 

(1) The imperative necessity for this census. 

It is known to every student of history that before 
he made his campaign in Georgia, General Sherman 
for months studied that country, until he was an 
absolute authority concerning its rivers, mountains, 
cities, industries, etc. He desired to know the land in 
which he was to campaign. In the last World War 
it was the business of Colonel Kirby, of the engineers^ 
to make maps of the prospective battlefields, to know 
where every gun emplacement was, every machine-gun 
nest, and all about the field so that the battle could 
be waged successfully by our troops. The religious 
census is the map of the prospective battlefield, and 
every true soldier of the Cross must know the field 
if he is to fight victoriously. How many times have 



124 New Testament Evangelism 

we gone into the important effort to save the souls of 
men and with no knowledge at all of the field in 
which we were to labor. The modern, successful 
pastor will not undertake a campaign so meaningful 
without first knowing the people who are to be reached 
and where he may find them. 

(2) The material necessary for the canvass. 

First of all there should be enough cards, contain- 
ing questions of the same general nature as the sample 
given in this connection, so that there may be one 
for each family in town unidentified with the church. 
Of course there must just here be an estimate made, 
for one can not tell just how many such folks there 
are until the canvass is completed. Care should be 
taken, however, that there are cards enough for all. 
These are the final cards for the keeping of the per- 
manent record. There must also be enough for the 
personal workers, for one set of cards will be used by 
those who are to go out after the prospects. From 
the same form from which the cards are made there 
should be printed an equal number of impressions on 
paper. These paper impressions should then be bound 
into pads with cardboard backs — about twenty-five 
papers to the pad. These pads are for those who are 
to make the canvass. It is well to have two colors 
of cards, one color, say the white, for the permanent 
record, and the other, say the red, for the personal 
workers. The following card form is the result of 
long years of testing of this type of work, and the 
questions on it are just those which are necessary and 
no more. There is not a thing on the card, therefore, 
which should be left out. I wish here to acknowledge 
my debt for this very excellent system to Evangelist 



The Preparation for the Meeting 



125 



C. R. L. Vawter, who is the inventor of it. The fault 
usually to be found with the average religious census 
is that it takes in too much territory and is not 
specific enough in its questions. The New Testament 
evangelist desires only that information which is nec- 
essary to land for the kingdom those who are not in 
that kingdom. 

The other material for the canvass consists in some 
form of invitation to the meeting which is to be pre- 
sented to the people after the information is received. 
I shall have occasion to mention this more fully when 
I deal with the advertising value of the religious 
census. This part of it is very essential and should 
receive a full consideration. 

KELLEMS RICHARDS MEETING-PERSONAL WORKER'S CARD 

Roswell, New Mexico 



CARD NO. 


SECTION 


Member of 
What Chnrch 


Where 


Charch 
Preferred 


Attend 
What S. S. 


Name of Family. 
Street and No.. .. 
















Pkone No. _ 

Husband's Name 
Business 

Business Address 







- 










Wife's Name. — _ 

Give Names and Ages of Children 
Below. 


















- - 

















CanvasBer 



.Address J>hone. 



126 New Testament Evangelism 

(3) How to take the religious census. 

There are two ways to take the religious census. 
In the first one, all the people in the community are 
taken. Frequently this is one in which all the 
churches co-operate, and a census is taken not only of 
the unchurched, but also of all the members of the 
churches in the town. After the census is complete, 
the cards of those preferring the church of Christ are 
turned over to the proper authorities. This manner 
of taking it does not, however, give one the best 
information, and the advertising value of it, as far as 
the meeting which is to be held in the church of Christ 
is concerned, is nil. It is also unnecessary to take a 
census of all those who are already members of the 
church, as they are known and their names are on the 
church rolls. 

The second method to be followed in taking the 
religious census, and by far the better one, is the one 
which we shall now advocate. In this plan only the 
homes where there are people who are unidentified 
with any church in the city are canvassed. This gives 
exactly the right information and does not take so 
much time or energy as the other plan. In prepara- 
tion for the canvass the minister should call a meeting 
of all the members, or of any society or organization 
in the church which will volunteer to do the work, 
and lay before them the plan for the census. A map 
of the territory should be secured, and that territory 
divided up into sections and the sections into divisions. 
The people present should then be divided up into 
couples and the material given to them. After this 
the minister should give the following very explicit 
instructions to them. He should emphasize the fact 



The Preparation for the Meeting 127 

that success depends upon the carrying out of the 
instruction to the very letter. 

a. Do not miss a single house in your territory. 

h. Do not say a single word about the meeting 
until all the information has been secured. Fre- 
quently, if they know you are representing a church, 
they will refuse to answer your questions. 

c. Get an answer to every question on the card 
and write it down clearly so that it can be easily 
understood. There is not a single unnecessary ques- 
tion on the card. The workers will need every bit 
of information requested. 

d. Kemember that the information desired is only 
that from people who do not belong to any church 
in this town. No matter what church they may have 
belonged to elsewhere, you are to get from them the 
desired information. For illustration, a man may 
say to you, ''I was a Methodist in some other State, 
but I do not belong to the church here." Take that 
man's name and address, for, if he is not a member 
of the Methodist Church here, he might be persuaded 
to identify himself with the church of Christ. The 
idea of the census is to get the information concerning 
every unchurched person in your territory, for concern- 
ing the others you are not interested. 

e. If you approach a home and find that they are 
all members of some church in the city, give them a 
cordial invitation to the meeting and hand them the 
little folder concerning the evangelists and the work 
which they are expected to do. 

/. After you have secured the information from 
the unchurched family, then tell them of the meeting 
and urge them to attend and to begin that attendance 



128 New Testament Evangelism 

with the very first service. Give them also the folder 
advertising the forthcoming campaign. 

g. Set a time limit for the work to be done, and 
urge the workers to return their pads of information 
by that time. 

"When the canvassers have returned their pads, the 
information should then be transcribed to the cards. 
Two sets of cards should be written, one as we have 
already noted, for the personal worker, and the other 
for the permanent record. This permanent record 
is made necessary by the fact that so often the workers 
lose the cards. If there is one on record, the lost card 
can be easily and quickly replaced. 

(4) When should the census be taken? 

The very best time to take the religious census 
is the week just preceding the meeting. If it is 
taken then, the advertising value of it, of which we 
shall speak in a moment, is tremendous. Every one 
in the whole community served by the church has a 
personal invitation to attend the service the very first 
day. Not only so, but taking it at this time gives one 
an up-to-date census, whereas, if one is used which 
is six months old, it will be found to be woefully out 
of date. 

(5) The value of the religious census. 

This point does not exactly fall in the province of 
our present discussion, but, as we know of no better 
place to consider it, we will note it briefly here. 

a. The census has a great advertising value. The 
folder, of which we have spoken before, and which 
should be taken by the canvassers as they go out to 
secure the information, should contain a little story 
of the training and accomplishments of the evangelists 



The Preparation for the Meeting 129 

who are to lead in the meeting. Their pictures should 
also appear. The minister's picture and that of the 
church, if there is room, could be included to advan- 
tage. It is well also to have a few of the most 
striking subjects printed in a prominent place in the 
folder. With this should accompany a cordial invita- 
tion from all the members of the church to attend 
the services and be benefited by them. This will 
immediately arouse interest. Added to the fact that 
its contents are striking, the fact that the invitation 
has been extended in a personal manner by one of 
the members of the church will give it great weight. 

h. The census is also of value in that it gives 
opportunity for the sending of religious literature to 
the right people in the community. If the church 
prints a little paper, this paper can be sent to those 
who are prospects, and through the printed page their 
attention may be attracted and their interest in divine 
things aroused. In one meeting, which resulted in 
about four hundred additions to the church, a thou- 
sand tracts or cards or articles in the paper were sent 
out each week to the most interested people in the 
community. Many are brought to Christ in this way. 

c. The census is of value in that it makes possible 
the sending out of large numbers of the church- 
members to visit the unchurched of the community. 
Frequent meetings of the members can be called, in 
which bunches of the cards resulting from the census 
are given to them with the request that they go out 
and call upon the people and get them to attend the 
meeting, or, if they are already attending and are 
near the kingdom, to get them into the church of the 
Lord. Really great results are obtained from this 



130 New Testament Evangelism 

method. When we can get the members of the church 
to work, souls will be converted. It is not a difficult 
matter to convert men to-day if one can get them 
to hear the message. The personal visitation method 
is the method to get them under the sound of the 
gospel story. 

Now, all this work can be done, and ought to be 
done, before the evangelist arrives on the field. Why 
should the whole first week be wasted in these things 
which can be done just as well before the meeting 
begins? Certainly this is one of the most important 
of all the things that the minister and the church 
can do to get the meeting started before the evangelist 
arrives. 

It is increasingly apparent to all who have had 
experience that the average minister to-day needs 
more system in his work. Instead of having the 
names of a few old prospects in your head, upon 
whom you have worked unsuccessfully for years, go 
at the whole matter, young men, in a scientific way, 
and have the field ready when the harvester comes to 
you. Learn to list prospects wherever you find them. 
The larger your list of such folks, the greater will 
be your meeting. 

Permit me to give you one warning in the con- 
clusion of this talk to-day. Do not hold the meeting 
before your evangelists arrive. This has been done 
at times, and it is always a mistake. I remember 
one instance in which your speaker was called to hold 
a meeting in a great church in the North. For weeks 
before that meeting the minister not only urged the 
invitation with great ardor, but he actually put on a 
Bible-school invitation at each Bible-school service, and 



The Preparation for the Meeting 131 

brought into the church great numbers of the young 
people. While one should at all times be happy and 
ready to receive souls into the kingdom whenever and 
wherever he can, yet it is surely a mistake to intensify 
the invitation, just before the meeting, to such an 
extent that the very purpose of the meeting itself is 
defeated. Get everything ready in sowing-time and 
then reap with all your vigor at the reaping-time. 



IV 

THE PREACHING IN THE MEETING 

I DO not know of any subject' more important in 
this general line of study than the one which 
we have for our consideration to-day. Every soul- 
winner desires, to some extent at least, to be a 
preacher of the Word. In all the world there is no 
more noble office than this. To be able to stand 
before dying men and women, and bring with power 
and persuasive force the message of redeeming love 
as it is found in Christ Jesus the Lord, is the greatest 
of all arts, the noblest of all vocations. There is 
nothing which can in any way compare with it, and 
it is indeed a holy ambition on the part of any man 
to desire to do that work well, to do it so as to reach 
the greatest possible number of lost souls for the 
Master. I know of no desire more lofty than the 
desire to be a great preacher of the gospel. 

I. The Place of Preaching in the Evangelistic 
Meeting. 

Dr. Broadus begins his wonderful work on **The 
Preparation and Delivery of Sermons*' with the state- 
ment: ** Preaching is characteristic of Christianity.''" 
There never has been a false religion, or so-called 



1 "The Preparation and Delivery of Sermons," Broadus (p. 1). 

132 



The Preaching in the Meeting 133 

religion, which has made its appeal through the spoken 
word. There was an approach to preaching in the 
work of the prophets of Israel, and there were times 
when some of the pagan and heathen philosophers 
have attempted to follow Christianity in this noble 
art, but the fact remains that preaching is pre- 
eminently a characteristic of the religion of Christ. 
The words of the apostle have placed it central in the 
whole scheme of human redemption when he said: 
*'It was God's good pleasure through the foolishness 
of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Cor. 
1:21). It is significant that as faith has been cor- 
rupted, preaching has declined. As false science and 
false theologies have undermined the true faith in 
the living God and the deity of Jesus, preaching has 
gradually degenerated into little disquisitions upon 
some moral theme — into book reviews or insipid ser- 
monettes upon some topic of the day. True preaching 
is always rooted and grounded in a great faith, for 
only such as possess faith can truly preach. 

As preaching is central in Christianity, so surely 
is it central in that manifestation of the Christian 
religion which takes the form of evangelistic endeavor. 
There is nothing which can be substituted for it. 
Music is absolutely necessary to a great soul-winning 
campaign, but music can not take the place of preach- 
ing. It will for a time entertain men, but if there 
is nothing in the pulpit for them, they wiU soon drop 
out. Our Lord's plan was not to save men by a 
musical program, though beautiful that program may 
be; it is through preaching that He is to reach the 
heart and change the life. Personal work can not 
take the place of preaching. It is necessary in every 



134 New Testament Evcmgelism 

campaign where the salvation of men is the issue, 
but it alone will not suffice to bring men to the cross. 
When the sermon has interested men and shaken the 
conscience, then the personal worker can go and per- 
sonally reinforce the message and bring the man to 
decision, but the real results can be achieved through 
the spoken word of the preached message alone. 
Religious ceremonies can not take the place of the 
message. They may be awe-inspiring and impressive 
of some great religious truth, but they will not lead 
men to repentance. It is only as truth comes from 
the Father through the personality of the preacher 
that men are to be reached for God. The printed 
page will not save the world. The Bible alone would 
never bring men to the Lord, for men do not read 
the Bible. Ninety-five per cent, of the world would 
go on without the knowledge that comes from the 
Word were it not for its proclamation. Then, again, 
truth on the printed page has not the appeal of truth 
that comes fresh from a dynamic, glowing personality. 
The preacher preaches not only with his voice, but 
with his hands and feet; his whole personality pro- 
claims the message from above. The reason why 
Qothing can ever take the place of preaching in soul- 
winning is that God's method of reaching the world 
has always been the method of bringing truth to men 
through the personalities of men. Mechanics have 
been tried repeatedly, in this age which worships at 
the shrine of the god of magnitudes, in the effort to 
save men from their sins. We have desired the great 
crowd, and it is a proper desire, but we have fre- 
quently been perfectly willing to sacrifice the main 
purpose of our assembly that we might draw the 



The Preaching in the Meeting 135 

multitude. No great church has ever been built, no 
permanent impression for righteousness has ever been 
made, by that minister, be he evangelist or pastor, 
who has minimized his preaching and made music, or 
personal work, or sensationalism, the prominent fea- 
ture of his ministry. Wise indeed is that one who 
has in the very beginning of his labor realized the 
full meaning of the great commission of our Lord 
when He said, **Go, preach." The advice of an old, 
battle-scarred soldier of the Cross to a young man 
who is just entering his life's work, is the best advice 
that can, after almost two thousand years, be given 
to soul-winners to-day: ** Preach the word; be urgent 
in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with 
all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Tim. 4:2). The 
evangelist is first, last, and all the time, a preacher 
of the Word, and in proportion as he realizes this 
will he be the successful servant of God that he 
should be. 

II. What Should Be Preached in a Meeting? 

1. What We Preach Must Be Determined by the 
Character of Our Hearers. 

(1) This is almost a self-evident proposition. I 
once knew a minister who was scheduled to deliver an 
address to the ladies' missionary society in a certain 
little Western town. With great care he prepared 
the address, both in its material and in its delivery, 
for he was one of the sort who committed his sermons 
to memory and practiced them before the mirror. 
On the great day when the address was to be delivered 
there came a terrible snowstorm, so that the only 
ones present were thirteen men. Not being possessed 



136 New Testament Evangelism 

of adaptability, the good brother proceeded to deliver 
the address to the men. It was manifestly a mistake 
to give to men an address intended for women. All 
preaching must of necessity be determined by the 
character of the audience. We are not preaching 
merely that we may deliver works of art, but we are 
preaching to men, and to the men before us. The 
preacher who does not realize this fundamental prin- 
ciple of soul-winning will never be able to bring meq 
to a saving knowledge of the truth. 

(2) Mr. Beecher said that there are always four 
different types of hearers. 

a. The intellectual. 

The intellectual hearer loves the cold, hard facts. 
He does not want the tears. He loves the argumenta- 
tive style of message. He is rather pugilistic, and 
loves for the minister to jump with a whoop upon 
the old, worn-out doctrines and tomahawk them. He 
wants the creed of the other fellow riddled with the 
grape-shot of argument. The preacher can always 
see this man sit up a little straighter and listen a 
little more intently when the argumentative sermon 
is announced. 

h. The aesthetic hearer 

The aesthetic hearer is not so much interested in 
the purely argumentative message. The fine-spun 
abstractions, the metaphysical distinctions, the scien- 
tific or philosophic reasoning of the purely intellectual 
style, are a burden to him. He loves the message 
which makes its appeal to the artistic within him; he 
is stirred by the beautiful. I have noted in my own 
ministry that this type of mind loves the word pic- 
tures; it is delighted with the long and oratorical 



The Preaching in the Meeting 137 

descriptions. The sesthetic mind is generally ritualistic 
in its conceptions of the worship in the church of 
God. To him the sermon must always be a work of 
art, it must be beautiful. 

c. The imaginative hearer. 

A third class, and one which will be found in 
almost every congregation of any size, is the one 
which is always most interested by the address which 
appeals strongly to the imagination. This class of 
hearers always demands that everything be enveloped 
with just a little of the ethereal, ^'a little haze." 
They want to think in terms of imaginative images. 
To the man who is of the so-called practical turn of 
mind, the one who is of the imaginative type is always 
a dreamer. It is almost next to impossible for him 
to understand that he is a thinker at all. Yet this 
is a real type, and happy indeed is the minister who 
realizes his need for the truth, even though it must 
always be surrounded by the clouds. 

d. The emotional hearer. 

By far the greatest class of people which will 
confront the soul-winner is this emotional class. They 
will outnumber intellectual about six or seven to one, 
and I have noted that, generally speaking, there will 
be more in this class than in all the others together. 
Psychology teaches us that the race felt before it 
thought. The majority of men are fed by the heart, 
and, if we would win them to the Master, we must 
make the heart appeal. I think the greatest weakness 
of the modern evangelism, especially in the churches 
of Christ, is to be found right here. We have not 
made appeals to the emotions of men as we should 
have done. We have by the force of unanswerable 



138 New Testament Evangelism 

logic convinced the intellect, but we have often failed 
to discover the fountains of the will. 

(3) How shall we meet these various classes of 
hearers? Certainly the answer is not hard to find. 
If a man can be reached by the intellectual message, 
by all means use that on him. If, however, he must 
be reached by a beautiful description, do not fail to 
give him what he wants. If he must have his thought 
brought to him enveloped in the mists of imagination, 
surround your message with the mists. If tears are 
necessary to lead him to the Saviour, by all means 
use the appeal to the emotions. We are to remember 
always that our purpose is to catch men for the Lord, 
and it is right and altogether legitimate to use the 
type of sermon which will accommodate itself most 
readily to his type of mind. 

(4) It is evident from what we know of these 
various types of mind that there can be no more 
important study for the soul-winner than the study 
of human nature. He must know man, body and soul. 
What would we think of a surgeon to-day who would 
know all about the various instruments which should 
be used in a certain operation; who knew all about 
materia medica; who W£is acquainted with all the 
works on the subject of the proper anesthetic to 
use — but who knew nothing at all about the organs 
of the body of the man upon whom that operation 
was to be performed? The evangelist who knows all 
about the Bible from the first chapter of Genesis to 
the last of Eevelation, and who knows all about syste- 
matic theology and the history of the church, is only 
half prepared. The greatest difference in the educa- 
tion of the minister of to-day and that of the minister 



The Preaching in the Meeting 139 

of yesterday is to be found just here: the minister 
of to-day is not only a student of the Bible and of 
the languages in which it is written, but he is a 
student of man as well. Dr. Parks Cadman says that 
the greatest difference between the American preacher 
of to-day and his English colleague is the fact that 
the American is a psychologist, while the English divine 
is first of all thinking about his sermon. The Amer- 
ican thinks less about his sermon and more about his 
audience. It is a healthy sign that the minister is 
increasingly becoming a student of man as well as of 
books. 

2. The Soul- winner Must Preach Doctrinal Sermons. 

(1) Some reasons why doctrinal preaching is neg- 
lected to-day. 

a. It is neglected because it is supposed to be an 
unpopular and unwelcome program. 

This supposition rests upon the attitude of the 
doctrinal preachers of the past. Fifty years ago most 
of the preaching was of a doctrinal nature. The great 
doctrines which gave to each denomination its peculiar 
bent were preached with earnestness and frequency 
by the ministers who believed with all their hearts the 
messages which they brought to their people. It was 
a pugilistic age, an age when great religious debates 
were held. Many times these debates were productive 
of religious animosities, and it has been very seriously 
questioned whether, after all, they ever really accom- 
plished any lasting good. Gradually, with the preva- 
lence of education, there came a subtle change in the 
spirit of the people. Men became more tolerant, they 
grew to viewing with increasing disgust the religious 
disputations. The time came when debates were no 



140 New Testament Evangelism 

longer held in centers of culture and learning, because 
they were no longer of interest to the great majority 
of the people. Men were tired of religious warfare, 
and they erroneously blamed this warfare upon the 
zeal for doctrines on the part of the ministers of the 
various denominations. The idea was of course 
absolutely wrong, for, while men were tired of the 
disputations regarding the merits of the various creeds, 
they were always eager to hear the pure doctrines of 
the Word of God. The world has never been tired of 
the doctrines or teachings of Christ and the apostles, 
when those teachings are preached with the authority 
of the Master Himself and not as coming from some 
man-made creed. The minister of to-day, looking back 
at those times when the combative spirit prevailed, 
imagines that doctrines to-day will not be accepted by 
the people, therefore the majority of men have neg- 
lected them in their preaching. I have heard men 
speak in an apologetic manner when they were forced 
to mention some great and essential doctrine of our 
Lord. Such need have no surprise if they find a reti- 
cence on the part of their people to fashion their lives 
after these same doctrines. The fact of the matter is 
that in reality no man can preach at all, in the New 
Testament sense of the word, unless he preaches doc- 
trine. Even the boldest sensationalist who prates much 
against doctrinal preaching is himself preaching it in 
almost every sermon, though he may not know it. The 
gospel is doctrine, and if we preach the gospel we will 
preach doctrine. 

h. Another reason for the neglect of doctrinal 
preaching is found in the destructive power of the 
so-called New Theology. 



The Preaching in the Meeting 141 

The reason why some are not preaching doctrines 
is that they have no doctrines to preach. Their whole 
teaching has been of the negative type. They can not 
preach the deity of Jesus, and salvation through Him, 
because they are not just sure that He is the Son of 
God. They can not preach remission of sins in the 
blood of Jesus because they are not certain which 
theory of the atonement they are willing to accept. 
They find it impossible to go out to the world with 
a program for the church of Christ because they do 
not know just what that program is. They can not 
proclaim the Word of God with authority, and there- 
fore with convincing power, because they do not 
believe that it is the Word of God any more than 
the work of any other of the great and inspired souls 
is the Word of God. They speak, therefore, with only 
the authority of man, and that authority will not 
bring men to the Saviour. The so-called New The- 
ology has simply knocked the foundation from under 
the feet of many preachers, and they find themselves 
at a loss to know what to preach. It is really a 
pitiful thing to hear some of them, who imagine that 
they are doing the popular thing, try to win the 
attention of the people by moral disquisitions and 
reviews of popular books. They have no consuming 
passion for the souls of men. 

c. A wrong theory of evangelism has also been 
responsible for the lack of doctrinal preaching. 

I was in conversation recently with an evangelist 
of some note. We were talking of this very thing, 
and in the talk he said to me: ''The business of the 
evangelist is to get men into the church. His preach- 
ing, therefore, will be mainly of the hortatory kind. 



142 New Testament Evangelism 

It is the business of the local pastor to teach the great 
doctrines after men are converted. I always urge the 
minister, before one of my meetings, to get the people 
all ready, so that the very first day there may be a 
great number prepared to come down the aisles. My 
meetings are never long, because we put on the high 
pressure and get done in a short time." Let me say 
to you, young men, that in my opinion this type of 
evangelism, based as it is on the absolutely wrong 
theory, has been a great curse to our brotherhood 
and to the world. Thousands of people have been 
induced to come forward who have had no convic- 
tions at all, and who were utterly ignorant of even 
the fundamental principles of the gospel. The evan- 
gelist's business is not merely to ^^get men in/' to 
reform the commnnity, or to make a great stir about 
the moral conditions that may exist; his business, 
first, last, and all the time, is to commit men to 
Christ. Now, certainly he will attack sin wherever he 
finds it; certainly he will do all in his power to 
induce men to surrender to the Saviour of the world — 
but he will do it through the proclamation of the 
gospel of the Lord in all its purity and power. He 
will be a teacher of the Word of life, and if that 
Word will not accomplish the purpose for which it 
was given, then that purpose will not be accomplished. 
If he does this work, as he must do it if he has the 
ideal of a great gospel teacher, he will take time to 
do it. In a word, he will preach the doctrines of the 
Lord, and doctrinal preaching always takes time. The 
emotional revival is finished in about two or three 
weeks. People can cry about so long, and then they 
are emotionally exhausted. I have known of men 



The Preaching in the Meeting 143 

who wondered why it was that their people lost 
interest after a few weeks had gone by. The reason 
was obvious; they had not been taught anything and 
they were tired out emotionally. 

Now, it is a sad thing to say, but there is another 
reason, which is closely allied with this theory of its 
being the evangelist's business to get as many in in 
as short a time as possible. This reason has been 
that evangelists of the unscrupulous kind early dis- 
covered that if they went on the freewill-offering 
plan, people would give just as much for a short 
meeting as they would for a longer one. It was easy, 
therefore, to be tempted to use the high-pressure 
methods and get a great crowd of people to come for- 
ward; for the greater the number of the so-called 
converts, the bigger the offering, and the greater the 
number of meetings held during the year, the greater 
the amount of money made. It is a gratifying thing 
to know that many of our churches are learning that 
the short meeting, by the big evangelist, on the free- 
will-offering plan, is the most expensive campaign 
which can be held, and the least productive of per- 
manent results for the kingdom of God. The love of 
money is a root of every kind of evil, and I fear 
that, at times, it has powerfully affected many an 
evangelist ^s theory of evangelism. One is almost 
tempted to wonder if the theory of evangelism is not 
based upon the love of gain. God protect you, sirs, 
from such unholy men. 

No meeting will be a success if it is based upon 
hortatory preaching alone. This type of preaching 
certainly has its place in the campaign for soul- 
winning, but that place is inferior to the great back- 



144 New Testament Evangelism 

bone of the work, and that backbone is the proclama- 
tion of the great doctrines of the New Testament. 

(2) The imperative need of doctrinal preaching 
to-day. 

a. We need doctrinal preaching if we are going to 
make converts who will stick. 

This is rather a strange way to put the matter, 
but it is absolutely true. Dr. James Snowden has 
beautifully expressed the thought in the words: "Doc- 
trine is the foundation upon which duty and deed are 
built, the root out of which they spring as flower and 
fruit. ' ' ' Doctrine is the basis of all Christian living. 
If a man believes in a system which teaches righteous- 
ness and purity of life, he is going to live according 
to that system. No practice can be stronger or cleaner 
than the doctrine from which it grows. I have never 
known great Christians except those who were inspired 
with great doctrinal ideas. With Luther, it was the 
authority of the Scriptures; with Calvin, the sover- 
eignty of God; with Wesley, the great doctrine of 
holiness; with Alexander Campbell, loyalty to Christ 
and the restoration of His Word to the position of 
authority in all matters of doctrine, life and discipline. 

A great Christian life is impossible without a great 
faith, and a great faith is impossible without a proper 
doctrinal basis, and that basis can not be builded 
without the right kind of preaching and teaching. A 
preacher in a prominent California church once stated 
the matter in proper relationship to the question when 
he said: "If you want men to be baptized, preach 
baptism; if you want them to give for missions, preach 
missions; if you want them to confess Christ, preach 



* "The Psycliology of Religion," Snowden (p. 218). 



The Preaching in the Meeting 145 

on the good confession." What fine, common-sense 
advice, and how sorely needed to-day. 

If doctrinal preaching should be the rule to-day, 
certainly it should be followed in the effort to win 
souls. The meeting is pre-eminently the time to teach 
men the way of the Lord. Here the hearts of men 
are heated as by a mighty fire. They are attending 
every night, and are inclining ready and willing ears 
to the message. This, of all times, is the time to 
teach them the great fundamentals of the Christian 
faith. And if they are thus taught, they will never 
forget; they will be the kind of Christians who are 
faithful and true. When men come to Christ from 
conviction, and not merely because of some emotional 
excitement, they come to stay. It has been a pleasure 
to hold evangelistic meetings in churches where one 
of our older ministers conducted campaigns twenty- 
five years ago, and to find those who came into the 
church under his preaching now occupjdng the high 
office of bishop or deacon. There is simply no answer 
to the facts, and the facts are clear. Preach the 
Word, and men will be made "workmen that needeth 
not to be ashamed." 

6. We need to preach doctrine to-day, in our evan- 
gelistic work, because it is the power or djoiamite of 
God unto salvation. 

If we are going to win men, we must preach the 
message which was given for that purpose. The 
so-called popular preaching, where the minister takes 
a text and uses it merely as a pretext, may for a time 
attract some of the people, but it will not save. There 
is just one power, and, if we want results, we must 
use that power. How solemn is the exhortation of 



146 New Testament Evangelism 

that prince of soul-winners, the apostle to the Gentiles, 
as he writes to his son in the gospel, the young evan- 
gelist Timothy. Eealizing that it is the last advice 
he, as a veteran of the Cross, will ever give to this 
young man, before whom are all the great battles, he 
says: ''I charge thee in the sight of God, and of 
Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, 
and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the 
word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, 
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" 
(2 Tim. 4:1-3). Then, looking ahead, it almost seems 
to our very time — with all its fads and theories, its 
constant desire for some new thing, its hatred of doc- 
trines which demand reformation of life, its lust after 
the things which are easy in religion — he continues: 
**For the time will come when they will not endure 
the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap 
to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will 
turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside 
unto fables" (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). And what is to be 
the attitude of the evangelist when this condition 
confronts him? Is he to turn aside with the rest of 
those who, according to their own lusts, have created 
their own doctrines and the teachers to propound 
them? Is he to be ensnared by the fables, or by the 
desire for the plaudits of the multitudes of those who 
no longer care for the sound doctrine? Alas! some 
there are who have so turned aside, and yet at one 
time they knew the true way. In view of the fact 
that he is being offered and the time of his departure 
is already at hand, Paul continues: ''But be thou 
sober in all things, suffer hardships, do the work of 
an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry" (2 Tim. 4:5), 



The Preaching in the Meeting 147 

Young men, I do not believe that one of you has the 
right to go out to the hungry souls of men until he 
knows those verses by heart; until they have become 
a part of his very being. Here the apostle has told 
every one who aspires to that highest and noblest of 
callings, not only what to preach, but also that in 
its proclamation he is to be steady and sober and not 
to have his soul affected by the desires of shallow- 
brained folks who, caring only that itching ears shall 
be tickled, have turned aside from the Word of God 
to the strange doctrines of men. 

Preach the Word! Fill your sermons with it! 
It is not enough to have a text. Have your soul- 
winning messages shot through and through with the 
Scriptures. Make a rule of your life to commit 
Scriptures constantly. It will strengthen your mem- 
ory and it will fill your mind with that which is the 
true dynamite. The great masses of the people believe 
the Bible, and there is nothing that will strike with 
greater power than continual quotations from the 
sacred writings. We are not training Scriptural 
preachers to-day as we should. We have been dwell- 
ing upon science and history and literature, and all 
these things are of enduring value to the preacher; 
but we need to give our main attention to the Word. 
When we preach the Word, we will preach doctrines, 
for the Word is doctrine. 

c. We should preach doctrine in the meeting in 
order to sustain the interest. 

Have you heard it said that it is a mistake to 
preach too much doctrine, because the people will 
grow weary of it and the interest will lag? I really 
believe there are those who believe this absurdity. 



148 New Testament Evangelism 

They seem to think that doctrinal preaching is narrow 
and destructive of variety in a meeting. If they 
mean by this that the continual preaching of one 
doctrine tends to the production of monotony, and 
consequently to the destruction of interest, I agree 
heartily. I once knew of a minister of the old type 
who preached eleven sermons on the subject ''The 
Faith that Saves." While the sermons were great, 
and of wonderful interest to the student, the preach- 
ing of so many on one doctrine soon wearied the 
audience and the meeting was not a success. There 
is no preaching in the world which will be productive 
of such interest as doctrinal preaching, if the well- 
known law of variety is obeyed. There are so many 
doctrines of our Lord, and all of them of such con- 
suming interest, that it is unpardonable to confine 
oneself to one, and one alone. If you want to interest 
your people, if you want to have great audiences 
attend your ministry, preach the doctrines of the 
Word; give them attractive titles; observe the law of 
variety; and you will be delighted at the success 
which will crown your efforts. 

d. Doctrinal preaching is needed to-day because of 
the terrible ignorance of the Bible. 

How few there are who really know anything 
about the Bible. I attended a Bible-school class one 
time, and if there is a place in the world where the 
Bible should be known surely it is the Bible-school 
class. I found that the young people could tell me 
glibly about the books: just how many there are, and 
the names of those and who wrote them. They could tell 
which were the books of law and history and proph- 
ecy; they could tell just how many there were in the 



TJie Preaching in the Meeting 149 

Old Testament, and how many in the New; but when 
I asked them about some of the great doctrines of the 
Word, they were silent. They had been taught the 
form; they were acquainted with the shell; but of 
the kernel they were utterly ignorant. Such folks 
as these, in our churches — thousands of them — need 
to be taught the Word. The pastor to-day has so 
many outside calls, and he is so enmeshed in the 
various ''drives" and ''special days," continually 
demanding time, that he has but little opportunity 
to teach the great doctrines of the Bible. But in 
an evangelistic meeting it is different, for everything 
has been gotten out of the way, so that the field 
is clear and the evangelist can tell the people what 
the Scriptures teach. I recently heard an elder in 
one of the great churches of the South tell a class 
of men that the Ten Commandments were as binding 
upon us now as they were in the time of Moses. This 
elder would profit by a little doctrinal preaching. 
His case is the same as that of thousands. The Chris- 
tian people of the world to-day need to know some- 
thing about the Bible. 

And if the church is ignorant of the Scriptures, 
what about the world? It does not read the Bible — 
it knows only in a vague way that there is such a 
book — and of its contents they know nothing at all. 
The evangelist is a primary teacher. He is to preach 
in terms of the fundamental principles to those who 
know not the gospel. Sometimes, as ministers, we get 
the idea that because the doctrinal principles are 
old to us, they are also old to the people. This is 
certainly a grievous mistake, for these great truths 
are as new to this generation as they were to the 



150 New Testament Evangelism 

first one that listened to them from the lips of the 
apostles. The evangelist is to be a great teacher, 
and his evangelistic meeting a school for the instruc- 
tion of the lost in the way of salvation. 

(3) Some doctrinal themes which should be dis- 
cussed in every meeting. 

o. The Bible as the Word of God. 

Men believe the Bible, but if one is to preach with 
real authority and convincing power, he must ever 
build upon the foundation that the Bible is the mes- 
sage of God to the world on the subject of salvation. 
Never in the history of the church has there been a 
great soul-winner who did not have an unshakable 
faith in the Bible as the very Word of the living God. 
Exalt the Bible in your preaching, young men, and 
the world will flock to hear you, for it wants to listen 
to a message of power. 

h. The relation of the old and the new covenants. 

The world does not know how to divide the Scrip- 
tures. It needs to know how to handle aright the 
Word of truth. How often do we find ministers of 
the gospel who know no difference between the Old 
Testament and the New. If the leaders of the people 
are thus ignorant, what must be the state of those 
who are their hearers? Every meeting should con- 
stantly keep before the people the correct and Scrip- 
tural method of studying the Bible. If we can get 
the people to do this, we will find it much easier to 
lead them to know the Saviour. 

c. The evidences of Christian faith. 

The best way to produce faith is to preach that 
which brings faith. In every meeting, therefore, there 
should be sermons on the great evidential themes of 



The Preaching in the Meeting 151 

the Scripture, such as **The Deity of Jesus," ''The 
Atonement," "The Cleansing Blood of the Lord." 
Any subject which exalts the theme of redemption 
in Christ as divine, as coming from God, will assist 
in bringing faith into the hearts of men. The apostle's 
words concerning the reason for the writing of his 
book concerning Jesus apply with force to this ques- 
tion, when he said; ''Many other signs therefore did 
Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not 
written in this book: but these are written, that ye 
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; 
and that believing ye may have life in his name" 
(John 20:30, 31). 

d. Sin, its nature, its exceeding sinfulness, its 
consequences, and its cure. 

No preacher will be a great and effective soul- 
winner if he leaves out of his preaching the treatment 
of sin. I freely confess to you that one of the hardest 
tasks in my own ministry has been to make men feel 
that sin is sinful. If in these optimistic, care-free 
days we could only make men feel the sense of sin; 
if we could but make them feel that they are sinners 
and in need of salvation! One of the things apparent 
to every man who honestly endeavors to win men is 
the decline in our age of the sense of sin. Men do 
not feel the need of God because they do not feel 
that they are sinners before Him. 

For several years, in my own attempts to win 
souls, I made a grievous mistake in dealing with the 
subject of sin. I felt that somewhere there was a 
weakness, and at the same time an inability to dis- 
cover just where that weakness lay. One day, while 
studying the life of Jesus, the solution of the problem 



152 New Testament Evangelism 

of how to preach on the subject of sin suddenly dawned 
upon me with a light which for a time left me dazed. 
My discovery of how to preach on sin came from a 
study of how my Master preached on it. It is strange 
that Jesus nowhere defines the nature of sin. Nowhere 
does He give a long dissertation on hereditary total 
depravity. He does tell men that sin is a universal 
thing, that it is lawlessness or transgression. He does 
not preach about sin, but about the individual sins of 
men. Jesus individualizes the subject. He makes His 
preaching tremendously personal. He strikes right at 
the sin of the man before Him. In the words of 
Beecher: ^'Generics never reach men." It is only that 
message which is specific, which strikes right at the root 
of things, that causes conviction and leads men to re- 
pentance. When Nathan came to David to bring him 
back to the life of righteousness, he did not give him 
a sermon on the universality of sin; he did not say 
unto him: ''Your nature is depraved." He did not 
spend any time in defining sin in all its various 
aspects. He tells the simple story of the two men, 
one rich and the other poor, and the lamb that was 
the poor man's delight, which the rich man took for 
the stranger who abode with him. When the king in 
wrath spake angry words about the one who had done 
this thing, then came the pointed, stinging, specific 
statement: ''Thou art the man." We have too long" 
preached on the subject from the standpoint of the 
philosophic schools, and not from the standpoint of 
our Lord, and our preaching has been dry and unin- 
teresting, and unproductive of results. The thought 
which we have been here considering is illustrated by 
Beecher with his keen needle illustration: One may 



The Preacliing in the Meeting 153 

take a bundle of needles and bind them together. In 
such position they have a bluntness like a board, but 
if one is taken alone, it is sharp and will pierce to 
the bone. So the generic method of dealing with sin 
will be blunt and ineffective, but the specific method 
will bring contrition and repentance. Evangelistic 
preaching, if it be mighty, is always of the specific 
kind, having little to do with philosophic considera- 
tions, with definition, with dissection. Since we are 
to deal with this later on, however, we will not notice 
it further here. 

e. The personality and work of the Holy Spirit, 

While one would think that this theme should 
come in the earlier preaching of the meeting, since 
it deals primarily with the evidences of Christian 
faith, yet in reality its place is unique and comes 
logically later after the interest in the things of the 
kingdom has been roused to a high degree. This 
question should have attention in every meeting 
because of several very evident reasons. 

(a) The way the subject is taught frequently leaves 
the auditors confused. This confusion should be 
cleared up, for it is often productive of many 
grievous errors which would not endure if the matter 
were clearly and forcefully presented. 

(6) Many are expecting great things of the Holy 
Spirit which they have no Scriptural right to expect 
from Him. Such, for instance, as a miraculous bap- 
tism in the Spirit. Others are expecting to receive 
power to heal the sick as did the apostles, or to work 
wonders and signs. These expectations and the conse- 
quent disappointments will be avoided if the proper 
work and influence of the Holy Spirit is discussed. 



154 New Testament Evangelism 

(c) There are many who have not realized what a 
blessing they are missing in not knowing the indwell- 
ing of the Holy Spirit. The wonderful promise of 
the Lord concerning that indwelling, with its conse- 
quent gift of power, should be made known to the 
hungry hearts of Christian men and women. 

In my own evangelistic work I have found the 
following general themes relating to the Holy Spirit 
to be of lasting value when the length of the meeting 
has permitted time for their presentation: 

''The Personality of the Holy Spirit." 

''The Work of the Holy Spirit in Conversion.** 

"The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.'* (I have found 
this subject to be the best antidote in all the Scrip- 
tures for Christian Science.) 

''The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.'* 

"The Baptism in the Holy Spirit.** 

It has long seemed strange to me that the Scrip- 
ture says so much about the Holy Spirit, and that 
we in our work of winning men have said so little 
about it. Certainly our preaching in an evangelistic 
meeting should be so arranged as to devote some time 
to the Holy Spirit. 

/. The Scriptural plan of salvation. 

The steps by which a man forsakes the old life, 
enters upon the new, and by which he becomes a 
Christian, should most certainly be preached in every 
meeting. Faith, repentance, the good confession, and 
baptism — these wonderful steps in that mystic stair- 
way which leads to the blood of Christ: how they 
should be emphasized in every soul-winning campaign. 
And how often in that meeting should they be given! 
I have about come to the conclusion in my own ministry 



TJie Preaching in the Meeting 155 

that they should somehow have a place in every service. 
Yes, T mean just that, young friends — that every time 
we present the gospel we should tell men what to do 
to accept the Lord. I have tried never to preach a 
sermon without, at some time in that sermon, if its 
structure admits of it at all, at least quoting the great 
commission. If the sermon is of such a nature that 
it will not permit of its inclusion, I try in the 
exhortation at the close to bring out the steps in the 
plan of salvation. Increasingly is it apparent these 
days that the preacher must tell the whole story every 
time he preaches, for our audiences are not consistent 
in their attendance. We preach to a procession, and 
as men go by us we must contrive some way to tell 
them what Jesus would have them to do. 

g. The church described in the New Testament. 

What a glorious fund of material for evangelistic 
preaching is found in the story of the church of 
Christ! And how eager are men to know about it! 
When it is presented to them in loving faith, and 
with the desire not to drive them away, but to tell 
them of that church for which Jesus died. His mystic 
body upon the earth. His bride, who with her hus- 
band is to dwell some day in eternal felicity, men are 
glad to hear and to accept it. The founding of the 
church should be discussed, its creed, its constituency, 
its organization, its rule of faith, the ordinances 
practiced by it, and the names of its members and of 
the organization as a body. Something of the history 
of the church should have a place in each campaign. 
It was a long time in my own work before the ad- 
visability and the necessity for a discussion of church 
history in an evangelistic meeting became apparent 



156 New Testament Evangelism 

to my own mind. When I first tried to preach on the 
subject I made the mistake of spending too much 
time, too many nights, in discussing the various 
aspects of the question. This I soon found to be a 
mistake. Historical themes lose their interest for the 
popular audience if too much time is spent in their 
consideration. I have discovered that one evening in a 
revival will be sufficient, but that in that evening the 
outlines of the great movements can and should be given. 

h. The ordinances of Christ as taught in the New 
Testament. 

What a crying need will be met if you as evan- 
gelists of Christ will exalt His commands or ordi- 
nances before men. Jesus had a very definite reason 
for giving these ordinances, or they would never have 
been given. If you can, in your preaching, impress 
upon those who hear you, that these things are prac- 
ticed because Jesus Christ commanded them, you will 
have placed their presentation upon the highest pos- 
sible plane. Baptism, the immersion of a penitent 
believer into the name of the Father and of the Son 
and of the Holy Spirit, should certainly be proclaimed 
with earnestness and power in every campaign. I 
have always loved to present baptism as an act of 
decision. Its psychological value is thus utilized to 
the fullest extent. Do not for a single moment leave 
baptism out of your preaching because of the fact 
that the subject has at times been made a matter of 
bitter controversy. You are a servant of the Lord 
Jesus, and it is yours to be true to the great commis- 
sion under which you labor. It is not yours, let me 
repeat, to philosophize about it; just preach it as a 
command of Christ, and you will baptize men. 



The Preaching in the Meeting 157 

The Lord's Supper, in its New Testament position 
and meaning, should always receive proper considera- 
tion in every campaign. I have never held a meeting 
without preaching at least one sermon on ''The Lord's 
Supper." This is one of the fundamental things in 
the life of a Christian, and certainly in those tremen- 
dous moments when the hearts of men are burning 
with high resolutions for better things, is the time 
of all times to bring to them a message on that 
beautiful ordinance, an understanding of which, and 
proper observance of which, will build stalwart, Chris- 
tian character. It is a sad fact that comparatively 
few of our brethren to-day have a real conscience 
on the Lord's Supper. It is our duty to help them, 
that their consciences may be stirred on this vital 
institution which in times past has meant so much in 
the preservation of the church of Christ. Preach on it, 
therefore, in every meeting you hold. 

i. The plea of the churches of Christ for the union 
of the people of God should be proclaimed in every 
meeting. 

What a wonderful plea it is! It was this plea 
that made me a preacher of the gospel. There is 
something so mighty in it that it sets me on fire 
whenever T think of it. And how its proclamation is 
needed now that men of the various denominations 
are thinking along the lines of Christian union. The 
greater the interest in this subject to-day, the more 
imperative and urgent is our responsibility; not to 
surrender the very positions which have made our 
plea possible, but, with a new and greater zeal born 
of that very interest, to proclaim it with more earnest- 
ness than ever. 



158 New Testament Evangelism 

We must face a strange paradox to-day. With a 
seeming increase in interest in the subject of Chris- 
tian union there has come, by a queer arrangement 
of circumstances, a strengthening of denomination- 
alism. The Interchurch World Movement, starting 
out in its first beginnings as a union movement, finally 
degenerated into a simultaneous denominational cam- 
paign. That campaign, in that it secured great sums 
of money, strengthened the denominational walls and 
postponed the glorious time when we shall all speak 
the same thing, and when there shall be no divisions 
among us, but we shall all be perfected together in 
the same mind and the same judgment. Our duty, 
therefore, as New Testament evangelists, is clearly 
defined. We must, with more powerful emphasis than 
ever before, proclaim not only the necessity for union, 
but also that which is a peculiar contribution of the 
people we have the honor to represent, the indispu- 
tably correct basis of union in Christ and upon the 
plain teachings of His Word. 

j. Christian missions and benevolences should 
receive strong emphasis in every New Testament evan- 
gelistic meeting. 

This subject has not often been considered in our 
work. We have too many times left the work of the 
instruction of the new convert in these vital things 
of the kingdom to the pastor of the church, who faces 
the difficulty of a somewhat slackened interest after 
the meeting is over. But this position is absolutely 
erroneous. If a meeting does not give to the new 
convert a wider vision of the work of the kingdom 
of God than that of a merely personal salvation, it 
has not been a lasting success. When the meeting 



The Preaching in the Meeting 159 

is over, the man who has been brought to the Lord 
ought to be fired with the great, world-wide vision 
which Jesus tried so constantly to give to His disci- 
ples. And certainly the time to teach some of these 
things is during the evangelistic meeting. We are 
teaching other things; we are teaching the first prin- 
ciples of the gospel. Can anything be more a first 
principle than the world-wide program of the King? 
If the new convert is thoroughly taught concerning 
these things, his Christian life will have received the 
right kind of a beginning, and he will be more easily 
nurtured into the stature of a full-grown man in 
Christ Jesus. If the missionary and benevolent spirit 
has been thoroughly aroused, we need have no fear 
for the spiritual health of the new babe in Christ. 

k. The Christian doctrine of stewardship should 
always be considered in every evangelistic meeting. 

A church-wide conversion of the pocketbook is the 
most crying need of the religious world to-day. It 
will not be difficult to bring the world to the feet of 
our Master if we can teach the church to dedicate 
her resources to the work of world evangelization. 
Be not afraid of money, young friends. I am sure 
that this fear is one which has been the curse of 
many a preacher, especially if he has been reared in 
a community where little was said on the money 
question. The evangelist can say more about money 
for the kingdom than any one else because people are 
thinking more consistently and more earnestly on 
religious things during the meeting than at any other 
time. The claims, therefore, of the Lord upon those 
things which are ours — our time, our talent and our 
money — should be stressed in every campaign. I have 



160 New Testament Evangelism 

always loved to preach money as a wonderful invest- 
ment. It is an investment in the greatest business in 
the world — the business of world regeneration. God 
is the senior partner and I am the junior partner. 
I must put something into this business if it is to 
succeed. If one can make giving a religious act, he 
has accomplished the very thing which he desires to 
accomplish. The people of God need to be enlight- 
ened, for only a people enlightened concerning those 
things of the kingdom will be persuaded to dedicate 
their substance to the work for which Jesus gave His 
own precious blood. 

III. How Should Doctrine Be Preached? 

(1) Preach it as if all the people in your audience 
had always believed it. 

Do not assume by your tone, or in any part of 
your presentation of a subject, that there are those 
who hold another view. Preach it as though you were 
dealing with a subject upon which there was perfect 
agreement on the part of all. How weak is that 
sermon which, by its very assumption of opposition, 
raises doubts in the minds of the hearers where there 
had been no doubts before. A proclamation of a 
gospel position, with the calm assumption that it is 
universally accepted as true, will lend to it unshakable 
authority, and it will come to your hearers with tre- 
mendous convicting power. 

(2) Do not assume an apologetic attitude in 
preaching on doctrinal subjects. 

I remember one young evangelist who never came 
to a great doctrinal position without explaining to the 
audience that he was not responsible for that teach- 



The Preaching in the Meeting 161 

ing, but that it was the Lord's, and while he did not 
want to hurt the feelings of any of his hearers, he 
felt that he would be forced to preach upon the 
theme. Such an apology was not only unnecessary, 
but it destroyed the power of his sermon. If one 
feels that he must apologize for the teaching of his 
Lord, he had far better be in some other profession. 
He will not grace the sacred calling of a prophet of 
God. No message will come with the ring of divine 
authority if it is emasculated by an apology for its 
delivery. Preach the great doctrines of the Lord in 
a fearless and positive manner, and you will have 
thousands of converts for your efforts. Only the 
positive message inspires the sinner with the convic- 
tion that that which is delivered comes from God. 

(3) Preach doctrine as doctrine. Do not give it 
a mere half-treatment. 

An evangelist friend of mine who had held many 
fairly successful meetings was once asked if he 
preached much doctrine in his meetings. He replied 
by saying that '*he sandwiched it in." This ''sand- 
wiching" process is just the process which has made 
many a weak-backed Christian. Mere ''sandwich- 
ing" will not answer for real doctrinal preaching. It 
leaves the auditor only half taught. It assumes too 
much on his part. I am more and more convinced 
that we should preach the whole wonderful doctrinal 
scheme as we would preach it if we were speaking to 
men who had never heard it before. We can not take 
anything for granted when it comes to the gospel. 
A great pastor friend of mine recently said, in speak- 
ing of this very fact: "The gospel is as new to this 

generation as it was to those who first heard it." 
11 



162 New Testament Evangelism 

Thus my reason for saying that we should preach 
doctrine as doctrine. Preach a whole sermon on 
*' Repentance"; do not merely sandwich the subject 
into one of your sermons by simply mentioning the 
fact that a man ought to repent. Preach a sermon 
on the subject of ** Baptism. '^ It is not enough to 
tell the sinner that he ought to be baptized, and not 
tell him what it is for and how it is to be performed. 
While there are many sermons into which the doc- 
trinal should be "sandwiched," yet such a process 
can not take the place of a great backbone of real 
doctrinal preaching where the wonderful doctrinal 
themes of the Word of God are preached as they were 
preached by that grand college of men who constituted 
the inner circle around Christ. Remember that the 
simple mention of a doctrinal position is not preach- 
ing upon that position. 

(4) Avoid every appearance of a controversial 
spirit in doctrinal preaching. 

You must remember that you are not conducting 
a debate; you are preaching to men who are lost in 
sin, and to whom the great doctrines which you 
preach are to constitute a rich soil out of which is 
to blossom the beautiful flower of Christian life. You 
are preaching with the object of winning men, not of 
driving them away. Dr. W. S. Buchanan, one-time 
pastor of the great church of Christ at Phoenix, 
Arizona, told me an amusing story illustrating this 
very thought. He was preaching a sermon on baptism, 
and, being very much in earnest, he started out in 
somewhat of a combative or argumentative spirit. The 
message became warmer and warmer as it went on 
to its conclusion. After the sermon a little lady came 



The Preaching in the Meeting 163 

to the preacher and said: ''My brother, when you 
pour water into a jug, do you take the cork out first 
and then pour the water in, or do you put the cork 
in first and then pour in the water ?'^ **Why, I first 
take out the cork," replied the minister, ''and then I 
pour in the water." "You did not do that 
to-night," said the lady. It is never proper, when 
preaching a doctrinal sermon, young men, to put the 
cork in before you pour in the water. It will go in 
with greater ease if you leave the cork out. I know 
a great preacher who has never been an efficient soul- 
winner because, whenever he preaches those dynamic 
things which should win men, he impresses his audi- 
ence with the thought that he is fighting a straw man ; 
he is having a debate rather than preaching a message 
on a subject which is vital to their very salvation. 

(5) Keep your audience in a good humor by occa- 
sional humorous illustrations. 

There is nothing which aids so materially in mak- 
ing the thought stick like lights and shadows in the 
message. If you are dealing with some point which, 
though in your delivery you have not suggested it, is 
nevertheless a point over which controversy has raged, 
it is well, if possible, to have just a touch of humor 
to keep those in the audience who have decided 
opinions about the matter in a happy frame of mind. 
One can do anything with an audience if this rule 
is followed with care. Discretion must, of course, 
be used in the matter, for too many such illustra- 
tions would detract from the seriousness of the treat- 
ment, but a judicious use of them will add much to 
the very spirit so much needed if the truth is to be 
so preached that it will lead men to a decision. 



164 New Testament Evangelism 

(6) Exercise care to clothe the great doctrines in 
the language of to-day. 

The teachings of the Lord never change. They 
are the same throughout the years, but the language 
in which they are to be presented changes with each 
generation. The old, hackneyed phrases of a genera- 
tion ago will be meaningless to the men of our modem 
life. These doctrines will be flat and insipid unless 
they can be brought to a man in the language which 
he understands. I can not do better here than to 
quote again from the brilliant work of Dr. James 
Snowden, ''The Psychology of Religion." In a splen- 
did passage he says: ''One danger with our doctrines 
is that they may fall out of touch with our day, 
if not in substance and spirit, then in form and 
expression. They necessarily change with the intel- 
lectual, social and spiritual climate of their age, a 
change that may be slow and unperceived in a short 
time, but is sure and obvious in the long run. When 
one reads a sermon fifty or a hundred years old, he 
is at once aware of a style and tone different from 
the preaching of to-day. Such change is evidence of 
the continuous growth and adaptability of Christian 
truth to varying and advancing human needs; a sign, 
not of decay, but of vigorous and fruitful life. Chris- 
tianity is permanent in its essential nature, but its 
interpretation and application are progressive. Yet 
this doctrinal expression may change too slowly and 
thus lag behind the times and grow obsolete. If doc- 
trines are preached in the phrases of former times, 
they will strike the present generation as strange and 
unattractive; whereas, if they are set forth in the life 



The Preaching in the Meeting 165 

and language of to-day, they may find a welcome 
reception." ' 

It can not but strike one as frequently the cause 
of the failure of otherwise good and zealous souls that 
they continually speak in the phraseology of bygone 
days. The gospel is ever the same, but it must come 
with the force and convincing power of a language 
which is intelligible to the age to which it is addressed. 

(7) Doctrine should be preached, also, as though 
it had a very definite application to the life of men 
to-day. 

It must be clothed with flesh and blood. It must 
not be presented as a mere dry theological diet which, 
because it has been preached before, and because it is 
old, is deserving of a hearing, but it must come to the 
men of to-day with the force of its necessity in mod- 
em life. It must come warm and pulsating with life, 
and not as a mere dry, rattling skeleton. The illus- 
trations which vivify its truth to the hearts of men 
must be those which come from the life they live, to 
make that life more beautiful and clean and whole- 
some in its living. 

(8) If one more rule may be permitted, and one 
which we would repeat over and over again, surely it 
would be this: Be kind always, never losing your self- 
control, but showing ever the spirit of the Master. 

Kindness will win a faltering soul when argu- 
ments and learned dissertations have failed utterly. 
If you are kind, men will believe in your sincerity. 
It is said of Alexander Campbell that he never lost 
himself in debate, no matter what his opponent said 
to him or about him. He did not descend to the 



1 "The Psychology of Religion," Snowden (pp. 21819) 



166 New Testament Evangelism 

plane of controversy for controversy's sake. He was 
in search of the truth, for the sake of the truth, and 
for the enlightenment of the mind and hearts of men. 
It is not ours to make attacks on the positions of 
men, even though those positions be false. Ours is to 
be a positive, constructive message, one delivered as 
much as possible in that spirit which simply does not 
take cognizance of even the existence of those doc- 
trines which are false. The preaching of the true 
teachings of the Word will in itself demolish those 
which are untrue. 

I can not close this section of our study without 
one further word. The New Testament evangelist who 
makes the great doctrines of our Lord the backbone 
of his preaching in an evangelistic meeting, must 
expect vigorous and, at times, even bitter opposition. 
He will have things said about him, and written about 
him, and even sermons preached about him. The 
gospel is the newest message in the world. Remember, 
also, that it is dynamite, and one who has had any- 
thing to do with dynamite knows just how it works. 
The gospel when it is preached in its purity will 
cause consternation. Men will talk, and read their 
Bibles, and ask questions. The one who preaches it 
will be called narrow and bigoted, even though he be 
sweet-spirited and kind in his utterances. My ideal 
New Testament evangelist was Paul. I think every 
preacher loves Paul, but it has always seemed to me 
that the evangelist should love him more than any 
other minister of the Word. Wherever Paul went 
he was in trouble. And there was just one thing 
that caused his trouble; he preached Christ and Him 
crucified, not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in 



The Preaching in the Meeting 167 

the demonstration of the Spirit and in power. At 
Antioch in Pisidia a persecution was stirred up against 
Paul and Barnabas and they were cast out of the 
synagogue; at Lystra Paul was stoned; at Philippi 
Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned; at Thessa- 
lonica it was said of them that "they had turned the 
world upside down"; at Athens Paul was mocked and 
derided; at Ephesus his preaching and mere presence 
brought on a riot; and when he at last returned to 
Jerusalem he was mobbed in the temple itself. The 
work of a New Testament evangelist is not the work 
for a timid man. The one who would preach Christ 
and His Word to the people must be of lion heart, 
one who quails not when the opposition begins to 
plan to undo his work. He must simply take his 
stand upon the truth, and thunder its message with- 
out ceasing until the victory is gloriously won. 

(9) The great art of closing a doctrinal sermon 
with an exhortation. 

This is not always an easy thing to do. When a 
message has been didactic throughout it is very diffi- 
cult to make a strong appeal at its close. The one 
who can do this is indeed an artist. The pleading 
type of invitation is the hardest to execute after a 
strong doctrinal message. The evangelist should watch 
every part of his message very carefully, and be quick 
to grasp any suggestion which will lend itself to an 
appeal. 

The commanding type of exhortation, that which 
appeals to the intellect, to the resolution, is much 
easier immediately following a doctrinal message than 
the pleading type. The doctrinal style lends itself 
more readily to this kind of exhortation than the 



168 New Testament Evangelism 

hortatory. This is a matter which will require long 
and earnest study, and its acquisition will be a price- 
less possession, one of which any soul-winner may be 
justly proud. If possible, it is well, even in a strong 
doctrinal sermon, to so plan that one may close with 
a touching illustration. This illustration must of 
course be in harmony with the thought of the sermon 
or it will be entirely out of place. 

2. We Must Preach Hortatory Sermons in an 
Evangelistic Meeting. 

(1) We must not only convince men, but we must 
move them to action, and men are moved through 
their emotions. 

The doctrinal preacher will find that he is con- 
stantly facing the very grave danger in his preaching 
of minimizing this vitally necessary type of message. 
He will find himself continually desiring to convince 
the intellect, to deal with the great teachings of the 
Scriptures, forgetting perhaps that the preponderant 
majority of men are moved through their emotions; 
that it is the heart appeal which causes them to turn 
from their sins and accept a Saviour who can save 
to the uttermost. Another selection just here from 
Dr. Snowden states the thing so clearly that it can 
not be improved upon: ''The feelings are also the 
immediate motives that move the will. There is no 
tendency for the will to act until the feelings pour 
their flood upon it as a stream upon a wheel, or as 
steam into the cylinder upon the piston that drives 
the engine. Objects and ideas generate feelings of 
sensation and emotion, and these accumulate in volume 
and pressure until they overcome the inertia or 
indecision or opposition of the will, and push it into 



Tlie Preaching in the Meeting 169 

action or explode it as a spark explodes powder. ' ' ' 
Many evangelists in the past have so stirred the 
emotions of men that to-day whenever one thinks 
of an evangelist he immediately imagines that the 
preaching of that one will be predominantly of the 
emotional type. AVe have tried in this study to show 
that the backbone of the preaching in a meeting 
should not be of the emotional, but of the doctrinal, 
nature. However, we do not mean for a moment that 
you should understand us as not believing in the 
hortatory type of preaching. When we have con- 
vinced men of their duty to God, and when by the 
preaching of the great doctrinal themes of the Holy 
Scriptures we have shown them the way of the Lord, 
it is then necessary that the "spark" be applied, 
that the explosion which shall move the will may be 
the happy result. No evangelist will be a successful 
soul-winner unless this element constitute an impor- 
tant place in his preaching. 

(2) What proportion of sermons in a meeting 
should be doctrinal and what proportion should be 
hortatory 1 

There can be no fixed rule about this matter. Let 
us remember, as we discuss it, that we are not talking 
about certain forms which must be slavishly followed. 
We must be careful to have respect for the law of 
variety. Then, also, one must determine when an 
exhortation should be given, by the temper of his 
hearers. It would be manifestly absurd to give an 
invitation when the audience was not prepared for it. 
The hortatory sermon must follow the known rules of 
psychology, for it can only be given with the proper 



"The Psychology of Religion," Snowden (p. 46). 



170 New Testament Evangelism 

effect after the people to whom it is addressed have 
been clearly taught the great doctrines of the Lord 
Jesus. It is then that the urge to accept these doc- 
trines and to obey the commands of the King should be 
given. I have found in my own work that there should 
be an exhortation after about two, or possibly three, 
doctrinal sermons have been delivered. The sermons 
of the last part of a successful meeting also will be 
largely of the hortatory type. This presupposes, 
however, that those of the first part have been of a 
teaching nature. The evangelist will learn by experi- 
ence when to draw the net and when to spend his 
time teaching. It is a great and ever-interesting study, 
and one which will reward the student with a rich 
reward. 

IV. The Arrangement of the Sermons for the 
Meeting. 

1. There Is Manifestly a Need for a Discussion 
of the Question because of the Fact that Many Mis- 
takes Are Made in This Important Matter. 

I remember one very vivid illustration of a mistake 
that was made in the matter of arrangement. A 
good friend of mine began his meeting in an Eastern 
city by preaching on the theme. ''What Must I Do 
to Be Saved?" It was a splendid sermon, and deliv- 
ered in the convincing manner of which this evangelist 
was a master, but it was delivered at the wrong time. 
The people were not ready for it, for most of them 
were there at the first service out of mere curiosity. 
They were watching the preacher, they were studying 
the methods of the singer, they were not thinking 
about what to do to be saved. Not only so, but most 



The Preaching in the Meeting 171 

of the audience were members of the church already, 
and were consequently already convinced on the plan 
of salvation. This sermon should have been preached 
at least a week later, and possibly even later still, 
after the people had been stirred up on the matter of 
their sins, after their consciences had been enlivened. 
We should not preach on what to do to be saved until 
people come to the place that they want to do some- 
thing for their salvation. We must get them to 
desire salvation before we can tell them with effect 
the correct path to follow in order to come to that 
salvation. 

2. Some General Principles to Be Followed in the 
Arrangement of the Sermons for the Meeting. 

(1) The arrangement must be made with respect 
to psychological principles. 

We should remember that we are to address, in 
order, the intellect, the sensibilities and the will. 
We do this in every sermon, if that sermon be prop- 
erly constructed and rightly delivered. We first teach 
men the truth, then we stir the emotions, and through 
the emotions we move the will to action. Now, each 
meeting follows the plan of a sermon. The first 
part of the campaign we address the intellect and 
the conscience. We convince men. We preach the 
great doctrines of the Lord in order that they may 
know the truth which is to make them free. After 
we have convinced men, we then appeal to the emo- 
tions. We preach hortatory sermons, which cause 
men to think of the olden times or which appeal to 
the heroic sensibilities. We try to induce them to 
act. Through this stirring of the emotions we move 
the will so that they will accept the truth which we 



172 New Testament Evangelism 

have preached unto them. Peter used this plan in 
his terrific Pentecostal sermon. He preached to the 
intellect and showed the multitude that they had 
crucified the Son of God, and that the Son of God 
has been raised from the dead, and that he was now 
the glorified One on the right hand of God. Stephen 
in his wonderful sermon appealed successively to the 
intellect, the sensibilities and the will. Paul used 
the same effective method on Mars' Hill and before 
Felix and Agrippa. Therefore when we have in 
mind the arrangement of our messages for the meet- 
ing, let us constantly remember the great psychological 
principles which underlie success in winning men 
from their sins. 

(2) The arrangement of the sermons should be 
made with the view to the production of variety. We 
should avoid monotony as we would a plague. 

I have heard it said by some that doctrinal preach- 
ing, if indulged in to any great degree, tends to 
become monotonous. That depends entirely on how 
doctrine is preached. I knew of one great old min- 
ister of fifty years ago who in one meeting preached 
ten sermons on repentance. Now, they were grand 
sermons, and for a student would have been a treat, 
but for the popular audience ten sermons on repent- 
ance were far too many. Now, if we mean this kind 
of doctrinal preaching, when we object to it on the 
ground that it tends to monotony, I am perfectly 
agreed. I am convinced, however, that there is noth- 
ing in the world which is so endlessly various as the 
great store of doctrinal subjects brought to us by our 
Lord and His apostles. We should try to cover the 
whole field of teaching, rather than to specialize in 



The PreacMng in the Meeting 173 

one particular department. We can preach without 
monotony on the love of God; the death of Christ; 
His resurrection; His baptism; His commands and 
promises; the Holy Spirit, both as to His work and 
as an indwelling guest in the heart of the Christian; 
but if we were to spend all our time discussing one 
of these subjects, we would soon lose our audience 
and the interest in the meeting would lag. 

As we have already noted in a previous section, 
one way to produce variety is to preach not only 
doctrinal sermons, even though in their nature they 
are varied, but also to preach the occasional hortatory 
sermon, that a direct appeal to the emotions may be 
made. Variety is produced not only by the difference 
in the subjects preached, whether they be doctrinal or 
hortatory, but also by the difference in the appeal 
made. The appeal to the intellect is very much dif- 
ferent from that made to the emotions. 

(3) The arrangement of the sermons should be 
made with respect to the length of the meeting. 

a. Immediately the question comes to your mind, 
**How long should a meeting be?" This is a question 
which certainly should be considered, and I know of 
no better place than just here. There are several 
considerations which determine the answer to the 
question. 

(a) The length of a meeting should always be 
determined by the size of the field. A little country 
place, where there are but few people to convert, 
and where one can obtain a consistent hearing, will 
not take so long, for the gospel conditions can be 
presented to the same people every night and a 
decision reached in a much shorter time than in the 



174 New Testament Evangelism 

larger field where the hearing is not at all consistent 
and where those to be reached are more numerous. 
The size of the field will always enter into the con- 
sideration of the length of the meeting. 

(&) The length of the campaign should also be 
determined by the interest manifest on the part of 
the hearers. If the audiences at first are large and 
then begin to dwindle until there are but a very few 
in the house at the last of the week, the best thing 
to do would be to close the meeting without further 
ceremony. If, on the other hand, the interest grows 
from the beginning until the time comes when it has 
been planned to close, that meeting should continue 
until great results have been attained. 

(c) The length of the meeting will also be deter- 
mined by the type of preaching which the evangelist 
brings. If he is an emotional preacher, and spends 
all his time preaching hortatory sermons, the meeting 
will be more intense and much shorter than if he were 
a doctrinal preacher. People can cry for about two 
or three weeks and then they are done. They become 
emotionally exhausted. If, however, the preacher is a 
great teacher of men, it will take more time to hold 
the meeting. A doctrinal meeting can not be held 
in two or three weeks. 

(d) The ideal meeting in the average field to-day, 
all things being equal, should continue at least four 
weeks, and, better still, six or seven. The evangelist 
can not preach what should be preached in less time 
than this. How ridiculous it is to think of preaching 
the great themes of the gospel and reaching the out- 
side world — I mean by this those who are not in any 
way at all connected with the church — in a meeting 



The Preaching in the Meeting 175 

of two weeks' duration. I was once called to a Ken- 
tucky town to hold a two weeks' meeting. In that time 
it was expected that the following results were to be 
accomplished: (a) Have at least three hundred addi- 
tions; {h) get a list of three or four hundred tithers, 
and (c) raise fifty thousand dollars for a new church. 
I thanked the brethren for their wonderful confidence 
in my ability, and told them that we might do half 
of all that they asked if we had six weeks" for the 
work. 

It is to be noted that one of the most important 
results of a meeting is attained only in the long cam- 
paign. I refer to the assimilation of the new converts. 
The longer the meeting, the better do the converts 
stick. By the time the long campaign is over they 
are old workers in the Master's vineyard. They have 
worked on others, they have been taught the things 
of the kingdom, and they are ready to stay. I have 
referred to this important matter in another address 
in our series, but its further emphasis here will, I am 
sure, be beneficial. 

The long meeting is always the most inexpensive. 
The longer it continues, the more permanent the 
results and consequently the more secured for the 
money invested. I once had a call from a friend on 
the Pacific Coast to come across the continent twenty- 
eight hundred miles for a ten days' meeting. I 
figured that it would have cost the church a hundred 
dollars a day for the ten days, and we would then 
just get the meeting started. 

If there is anything that our own brethren need 
to learn, it is the great lesson of how to prepare 
for a meeting; not only in the plans that they make, 



176 New Testament Evangelism 

but in the setting aside of time enough for the work- 
ing out of those plans. The great trouble with many 
of us has been that we have planned our great meet- 
ings in the fields which are vast in scope, and white 
unto harvest, as we would plan the little country- 
revival. We can not expect the congregation to have 
the vision, for, as a rule, the majority of them have 
come from the small country church where the little 
ten days or two weeks' meeting was the fashion. 
They will necessarily plan the larger meeting the 
same way. The preacher must have the vision of the 
magnitude of the field and of the necessity for laying 
siege to the strongholds of Satan in that field. The 
best meetings that we have ever held, those which 
have had the greatest number of additions and which 
have so strengthened the church that we have been 
called to serve them again, have averaged seven weeks 
in their duration. The best meeting in which I had the 
honor to do the preaching lasted nine weeks, and at 
its close the minister insisted that we should continue 
at least four more. If I were confronted with the 
same situation again, I would stay for the other four 
weeks. I was happy this year when a great preacher 
friend on the west coast, in calling us for a second 
meeting in a church where we had once been in a 
campaign for seven weeks, asked that we reserve two 
months for the meeting with him. Young men, you 
may think what I have now to say a strange thing, 
but I tell you that some time I am going to hold a 
meeting in one church for six months. I do not 
think there is any limit in duration to the real doc- 
trinal meeting. The people never grow weary of the 
old gospel story. 



The Preaching in the Meeting 177 

b. What time of the week is best for beginning 
the meeting, and what time is best for closing it? 

Since we are discussing the length of the cam- 
paign, this question logically comes up for our con- 
sideration just at this time. The greatest number of 
meetings are begun on the Lord's Day, but this is 
not the ideal plan. There is but one ideal time to 
begin the meeting, and that is in the middle of the 
week. If you begin your meeting at this time, the 
first Lord's Day will be much better than if you 
began on that day. The crowds, generally speaking, 
will be larger, and the mere curiosity will have 
been worn off. Then, also, the chorus and the 
song evangelist will be working together, and the 
Lord's Day services will go off much more smoothly. 
It is also probable that there will be many more 
additions on the first Lord's Day, if the meeting 
begins in the middle of the week. If Lord's Day is 
chosen for the beginning-time, that first day is prac- 
tically lost, when, in reality, it should be one of the 
big days of the campaign. 

For closing a meeting there is but one ideal time, 
and that time is on a Lord's Day night. There are sev- 
eral apparent reasons for this position. First of all, 
there is always a larger crowd of people on that night 
than any other. Again, there is a larger crowd of un- 
converted people than on any other night. If you close 
in the middle of the week, the majority of your crowd 
will be members of the church. The psychology of 
a Sunday night is better because that is the time the 
unconverted man goes to church anyway. I have 
found, in my own experience, that there are always 
more additions on a Lord's Day night closing service 



178 New Testament Evangelism 

than at any other time. Another reason for closing 
on Lord's Day night is that it gives the people a rest 
before the next Lord's Day services. Especially is 
this needed if the meeting has been a long one. 

From this study of the length of the meeting it 
is readily apparent how vitally necessary it is that 
the arrangement of the sermons be made with respect 
to this important consideration. If one plans for a 
long meeting, he will not preach all of his greatest 
doctrinal sermons in the first or second week, but will 
see to it that they are more evenly distributed 
throughout the entire campaign. 

(4) The arrangement of the sermons for the meet- 
ing should be made with respect to the law of climax. 

There should be a constant rise in force and 
interest as the campaign progresses. The preaching 
should become more intense as the close draws near. 
It would be a foolish thing indeed to preach the 
greatest sermons right at the beginning of the cam- 
paign. No evangelist should fire his biggest shot first 
and then fizzle out at the end. I have known of this ter- 
rible mistake being made, but it means failure. The 
greatest appeals, the greatest sledge-hammer blows, 
should be reserved for the last of the meeting. The 
interest should rise day by day until it closes in a 
religious climax. 

(5) Let us remember, also, that no arrangement 
of sermons for the meeting should be iron-clad. We 
must be able to change our message at a moment's 
notice. The evangelist should know his audience so 
well that he can, if necessary, switch messages to 
meet the needs of those before him. He will learn 
to study the crowd in the first part of the service; 



TJie Preaching in the Meeting 179 

his experience in personal work will so widen his 
acquaintance with those who are out of the kingdom 
that he will know what they need. If he has 
announced a certain message, and when the time 
for its delivery arrives he finds that those for whom 
he was to preach it are not present, it would be good 
sense to postpone that message until those who need 
it are there. The evangelist's business is to reach 
men, and there is no use to waste ammunition which 
might be used at another time with more deadly effect. 
One is indeed unfortunate, however, if he is not able 
to think of two sermons at once, and is therefore 
unable to change. 

The question as to the propriety of announcing the 
sermon subjects from night to night is one which we 
may properly consider for a moment. It is my own 
opinion that the sermon themes should be announced 
for a week ahead. The reservation should be made, 
however, that the evangelist has the privilege of 
changing his sermon at any time. Frequently evan- 
gelists who have great reputation, and to whose min- 
istry great multitudes flock anyway, do not even 
announce what the theme of the next sermon will be. 
There is much that can be said in favor of this 
method, but its employment is conditioned upon the 
position and reputation of the evangelist. The ordi- 
nary man will, I believe, find it of assistance in 
securing and holding an audience if he will announce 
any theme which has an element of unusual interest. 

3. The Sermons for the Lord's Day in the Meeting. 

The Lord's Day is so much more than any other 
day the greatest in a meeting, that a special con- 
sideration of the arrangement of the sermons for that 



180 New Testament Evangelism 

day will be profitable. What should we preach on 
the Lord's Day? Why should we preach a certain 
type of sermon more than any other? These are 
interesting questions, and their answer will have much 
to do with the success of the whole meeting, for as 
goes the Lord's Day services so will go the whole 
campaign. 

(1) The sermon for the Lord's Day morning. 

Generally speaking, the Lord's Day morning ser- 
mon should be addressed to the church. This is 
evident when we consider the nature of the morning 
service. It is the communion service, and the mem- 
bers of the church constitute the major portion of 
the audience at that time. They have come for the 
purpose of remembering the Lord Jesus in His 
appointed ordinance. Their attitude is therefore 
devotional, and the message of the hour should con- 
form to the posture of the soul at that time. The 
songs should be of the devotional or worshipful type. 
This is a good time to appeal to the church for 
greater activity in the work of the meeting. If an 
appeal can be made to the emotions, the impression of 
the message will be deeper. It is pre-eminently a time 
for consecration and worship. It is therefore the time 
for the great spiritual, inspirational message. 

This rule is not, however, an unchangeable one. 
There are times when a great doctrinal message may 
be delivered with more effect at this time than at 
any other. In many of the great city churches to-day, 
the outside people attend the morning service. This 
is a peculiar thing in our modern life, for in times 
past the man who was not a member of the church 
attended the evening service only. When, therefore. 



The Preaching in the Meeting 181 

one faces a condition of this kind, it is permissible 
to preach a message which will reach the man who 
has come to hear. In one of my own meetings in a 
large city church I remember quite well of preaching 
a sermon on the subject, ''The Church of Christ." 
The reason for this was the one which I have stated: 
the outside people were in attendance in large num- 
bers on that occasion, and it would have been out of 
place to have addressed the whole sermon to the 
church alone. It comes to me with constantly increas- 
ing force through the years that the effective preacher 
must preach to the people before him, no matter the 
time or place or what the occasion may be. 

(2) The sermon for the Lord's Day evening ser- 
vice in a meeting. 

a. There is just one answer to the question of 
''What must I preach on a Lord's Day evening ser- 
vice during the meeting?" Preach the biggest and 
strongest doctrinal sermon you possess. There is no 
other kind to be preached on this occasion. There are 
Inany reasons which enforce this contention, a few of 
which may be given here. 

(a) Lord's Day evening is the time when you have 
your greatest audience of people who need the very 
message which you have for them. The unconverted 
man will be there; the confused man, and the one 
who is mixed up regarding the doctrines of the 
Word, will be there. This, then, is the time to preach 
what Christ would have taught. It is not the time 
to give merely an exhortation. It is the time to sow 
the seed from which to reap during the ensuing week. 
To use another figure, it is the artillery preparation, 
the bombardment before the bayonet charge. 



182 New Testament Evangelism 

(h) The idea that a doctrinal sermon delivered on 
a Lord's Day night will drive the people away is 
based upon a wrong attitude toward the gospel of 
the Lord. If you consider doctrine as controversial 
literature, and as a controversial message, and if you 
deliver it in a controversial spirit, then you will drive 
your people away. But if it be considered as teach- 
ing and as the very foundation of spiritual life, and 
if it be delivered in the attitude of a teacher on fire 
with the importance of that which he has to teach; 
if it be delivered with a shining face and a spirit of 
kindness and love — then it will only serve to intensify 
the interest of the people, and the audiences the next 
week will be greater than ever. I contend, young 
men, that nothing can so strengthen your meeting 
and so deepen the interest as a doctrinal sermon 
preached in the right spirit. 

I desire just at this point to pay homage to a 
man who has meant much to my own ministry, 
the man who baptized me into Christ, the pastor 
of my boyhood — Brother Morton L. Eose. One 
little suggestion from Brother Rose doubled the addi- 
tions in my meetings in one year. While in a very 
pleasant campaign with him in a California church, 
he changed my whole conception of the time for the 
delivery of the great doctrinal messages. In the 
meeting I had been preaching my best hortatory ser- 
mons on a Lord's Day night. On Monday or Tuesday 
evening I would preach the doctrinal messages. With 
great tact and kindness. Brother Rose showed me the 
folly of wasting the big opportunity presented by 
a Lord's Day evening in merely exhorting men. 
''This is the time," said he, 'Ho bring your greatest 



The Preaching in the Meeting 183 

teaching sermon. Preach to the people before you." 
Of course, young men, if you are afraid, you had 
better not try it. The best thing for you, if you are 
filled with fear, is to go on with your nice little 
hortatory sermons on Sunday nights, and be content 
with a nice little, mediocre success in soul-winning. 
If, however, you want to do big and permanent things 
for the Master, use the Scriptural method of preach- 
ing the greatest message to the greatest number of 
unconverted men. Kemember you are an offensive 
fighter; then, strike to kill. 

V. A Suggested Arrangement of Sermons for a 
Meeting of Six Weeks. 

(1) First Week. 

Lord's Day: Morning — **How to Have a Success- 
ful Meeting," or ''Personal Work." Evening— "The 
Deity of Jesus." 

Monday— "The Slavery of Sin." 

Tuesday— "The Leprosy of Sin." 

Wednesday— "How to Study the Bible." 

Thursday— "Is There a Hell?" 

Friday — "The Eesurrection of Jesus Christ." 

Saturday — Rest Night. 

(2) Second Week. 

Lord's Day: Morning — Sermon to the Church. 
Evening— "What Must I Do to Be Saved?" 
Monday — A Hortatory Sermon. 
Tuesday— "Faith." 
Wednesday — ' ' Repentance. ' ' 
Thursday— "The Good Confession." 
Friday — A Hortatory Sermon. 
Saturday — Rest Night. 



184 New Testament Evangelism 

(3) Third Week. 

Lord's Day: Morning — Sermon to the Church. 
Evening — ''Bible Baptism" (a chart sermon). 

Monday — Hortatory Sermon. 

Tuesday — ''The Conversion of the Jailor." 

Wednesday — "The Scriptural Heart, and How It 
Is Changed" (a chart sermon). 

Thursday— "The New Birth." 

Friday— "The Blood of Christ." 

Saturday — Rest Night. 

(4) Fourth Week. 

Lord's Day: Morning — "The Lord's Supper." 
Evening — "The Church of Christ" (a chart sermon). 

Monday — A Hortatory Sermon. 

Tuesday— "The Name 'Christian'." 

Wednesday — "The Conversion of the Eunuch." 

Thursday — "Sermon on Church History" (a chart 
sermon). 

Friday — A Hortatory Sermon. 

Saturday — Rest Night. 

(5) Fifth Week. 

Lord's Day: Morning — Sermon to the Church. 
Evening — ' ' Christian Union. ' ' 
Monday — A Hortatory Sermon. 
Tuesday— "Why I Am a Christian Only." 
Wednesday— "The Safe Way." 
Thursday — A Hortatory Sermon. 
Friday — ^A Hortatory Sermon. 
Saturday — Rest Night. 

(6) Sixth Week. 

Lord's Day: Morning — Sermon to New Converts. 
Evening — Great Closing Exhortation and Appeal — 
'*The Sin of Rejecting Christ." 



TJie Preaching in tJie Meeting 185 

A study of this suggested arrangement of sermons 
for a meeting, will reveal that there are twenty-two 
distinctively doctrinal messages, fourteen which are 
hortatory and devotional, or almost two doctrinal to 
one of the other type. This gives a strong doctrinal 
backbone to the meeting, and at the same time enough 
of the hortatory type to move men to action. The 
hortatory sermons here mentioned do not, of course, 
include all of the exhortation of the meeting, for 
most of the doctrinal sermons should be closed with 
an exhortation for men to accept the Lord. The plan 
also includes four chart sermons. A greater number 
than this can be used with fine effect during a cam- 
paign of six weeks, but this is as few as should be 
used. The plan here given attempts to cover in a 
general way the big positions of the gospel, so that 
one who hears the sermons delivered will be well 
grounded in the great fundamentals of the Christian 
faith. It is to be remembered that this is but a 
suggested plan, and that it should not be followed 
slavishly as something inspired or infallible. 

VI. The Use of Charts in the ]\'lEETiNa. 

1. The Necessity for the Use Is Apparent. 

There are many subjects which can be presented 
with greater effectiveness if the eye is appealed to as 
well as the ear. The sermon on ''Bible Baptism," 
or the one on ''The Change of Heart," or "Christian 
Union," can be more clearly discussed with a chart 
than without one. For illustration, if the chart is 
used in discussing the subject of "Christian Union," 
the basis of union is kept constantly before the audi- 
ence. The effect of the whole message is therefore 



186 New Testament Evangelism 

much more pronounced than if the chart is not 
employed. The use of charts is also productive of 
that variety which is so necessary to the stimulating 
and sustaining of interest in the meeting. A chart 
sermon is something new, and immediately upon the 
announcement of one to be preached the interest in 
the whole meeting takes on a new and added zest. 
The use of charts is also psychological in that they 
preach the gospel, not only to the ear, but also to the 
eye. One of the best known principles of psychology 
to-day is that the more numerous the impressions, the 
better will the new idea take hold of the student, 
and consequently the stronger will be the chance of 
his retaining that idea. The chart brings into being 
a visual image of the sermon truth, and that image 
enforces the impression of the whole message. 

In my own meetings, I often place my charts on 
the wall and simply leave them there until the meet- 
ing is over, whether I use all of them or not. The 
mere fact that they are hanging there is a fine thing, 
for they preach many a good, silent sermon to those 
who assemble in the audiences. The people will read 
them before and after the services. I have found this 
to be especially true with such charts as the one on 
''Baptism," or ''The New Testament Church.'' Many 
of the hearers will spend time copying the charts, 
that they may go to their homes afterward and in the 
quiet of those homes read the Scriptures contained in 
them. 

It is frequently a good plan to have the larger and 
more important charts printed so that they may be 
distributed after the delivery of the sermon, and con- 
sequently after the interest of the people has been 



The Preaching in the Meeting 187 

raised to a high point. There are hundreds who would 
like to have a copy of the chart, not only for their 
own future reference, but that they may pass it on 
to some friend whom they would lead to Christ. We 
need to use more literature anyway. 

2. Some Correct Principles According to Which 
Charts Should Be Constructed. 

(1) They should be neat and clean and accurately 
executed. 

It is very bad form to place a dirty, poorly 
executed chart before a modern, critical audience. If 
the sensibilities of the best people in that audience are 
shocked, the very purpose for which the chart was 
brought into being has been defeated. If the chart 
has a cheap appearance, it will fail to have the effect 
that it should have. One should be just as careful 
about the appearance of his charts as he is about his 
own personal appearance. 

(2) They should contain the least amount of mate- 
rial consistent with the making clear of the message 
which they bring. 

Many charts have so much material that they are 
confusing to the reader. A chart is much like a 
newspaper editorial. If the editorial is too long, the 
average busy man will not read it. The practice of 
the modern editor has been to make his editorials 
short and to the point. If the work must be longer 
than usual, the custom has been to cut the editorial 
up into different and apparently independent parts. 
If your chart has too much material on it, the average 
reader or hearer will not even start in to study it. 
The fewer the words and references to Scripture, the 
better the chart will be. 



188 New Testament Evangelism 

(3) A chart should be large enough for every type 
of building. 

Most charts are too small. They have been made 
for small buildings, and when the evangelist desires 
to use them in a large building, such as a tabernacle 
or a large church auditorium, they are totally inade- 
quate. The letters used should be large enough to be 
easily seen from all parts of a large building, for 
there is no value in using a chart which people caij 
not read with ease. 

3. How Frequently Should Charts Be Used in a 
Meeting? 

(1) They should not be used too frequently. 
Twice a week, at the most, is often enough, for 

if too many are used, the very thing that the evan- 
gelist must shun as a plague will be produced; 
namely, a deadening monotony. A plan that can be 
used with fine effect, if there are a good many sub- 
jects which seem to require a chart treatment, is to 
spend a few minutes, on those nights when a horta- 
tory sermon is on the program, in the explanation of 
a chart. In a word, ten minutes can be used effec- 
tively in explaining a short chart on some doctrinal 
subject. After this, one or two songs can be sung, 
and then a fifteen or twenty minute hortatory sermon 
can be preached. In this plan, a little instruction 
has been given on that night when the major portion 
of the time is spent in drawing the net. When the 
plan is followed, it should be remembered that both 
the explanation and the sermon must be short. 

(2) The use of charts in an after meeting. 
Frequently, in a long meeting, one chart can be 

explained several times by having meetings after the 



The Preaching in the Meeting 189 

regular service, to which those who have not heard 
the chart before can be invited. I remember, in a 
certain Western town, that one chart was explained 
four different times, and each time large audiences 
assembled after the service to hear the explanation. 
Not only was the explanation given, but an enthu- 
siastic invitation was extended for any present who 
had profited by the explanation, and who had not 
surrendered to Christ, to make the good confession. 
This plan gives an opportunity to repeat important 
themes which need repetition, but which can not very 
well be repeated in the regular services of the meet- 
ing. Whenever it is tried, however, a night should 
be chosen when the regular sermon is short. 



THE SONG EVANGELIST, AND THE MUSIC OF 
THE MEETING 

THE work of the song evangelist, and the music 
of an evangelistic meeting, have never received the 
consideration that their importance demands. Why 
this is, I do not know, but that it is a fact, all will 
admit. If I were to desire to turn to a book which 
would give some of the correct principles of evan- 
gelistic music, I would not know where to go to find 
it. That evangelistic music differs from that of the 
regular church work none will deny. Its importance 
in the work of winning souls is patent to all who have 
had any experience at all in the field of New Testa- 
ment evangelism. While that importance has been 
acknowledged, yet the work of the singer, and the 
singer himself, have been so minimized by some, that 
by the many a proper consideration of the work and 
of the singer has not been given. 

I wonder if an apology is due because this theme 
to-day is to be treated from the standpoint of an 
evangelist? May I make it clear, however, that it is 
considered by one who is himself a great lover of 
music and who believes whole-heartedly in the dignity 
and importance, in the evangelistic scheme, of evan- 
gelistic music. Not only so, but the positions which 

190 



The Music of the Meeting 191 

shall be taken to-day have been dictated by years of 
experience and with all types of singers. Observa- 
tion is a great and effective way to learn, and these 
positions given to-day are the result of observation. 

I. The Song Evangelist. 

1. The Dignity and Importance of His Office. 

There is no surer way to gather together a large 
and interested audience than to have an enthusiastic 
and interesting musical program during the meeting. 
All people, no matter their race, their station in life, 
their occupation, love good music. There can, there- 
fore, be no office more dignified than that of the man 
who leads in the production of that which will be a 
power to draw men to hear the preaching of the 
Word, that, hearing, they may believe and obey. 
Gospel music is not only a drawing power; it is 
preaching itself. It is not mere entertainment, for, 
if such alone be its function, far better were it that 
it be cast out of the evangelistic program. The 
message with which gospel music is laden lends 
to it great dignity. And is it not also true that 
there are truths which can somehow be better ex- 
pressed in the rhythm and beauty of music? In his 
useful little book, ''Musical Ministries in the 
Church," Professor Pratt has splendidly expressed the 
thought when he says: **For certain aspects of the 
gospel message no voice is more eloquent than that of 
music. By this, of course, I do not mean that singing 
is a proper medium for conveying a knowledge of 
mere facts, or for drawing nice logical distinctions, or 
for making homely applications of doctrine to duty, 
or for any other form of discourse that involves much 



192 New Testament Evangelism 

intellectual detail. But I do mean that the more com- 
pact and precious summaries of the essence and kernel 
of God's message to men, that are scattered through 
the Bible, often take on an unexpected freshness and 
luster and penetrative energy when fitly clothed in 
melody and harmony. I mean that familiar words 
and thoughts, whose repetition in mere speech sounds 
comparatively trite and formal, often recover their 
meaning and their potency when lovingly uttered and 
reiterated through song. I mean that music has the 
power to invest such statements with an emotional 
exegesis and commentary and a tender intimacy of 
appeal that otherwise they may not have to the 
average mind." Evangelistic music prepares the audi- 
ence for the sermon in word. The more careful con- 
sideration of how this is brought about, and what the 
real effect of that preparation is, will be attempted 
later on in this address. The fact that music is truly 
the greatest preparation, both emotionally and spirit- 
ually, is sufficient to note here. 

All too often have we found men who were them- 
selves in the singing evangelist's office who have 
underestimated the dignity of that office. I have 
heard such say: ** There is nothing in the work for 
a man." And why not, may I ask? Is it not rather 
that the one who thus speaks is himself lacking some- 
where? There is nothing in the work of the song 
evangelist unless the song evangelist puts something 
into the work. Despise not thy ministry. How 
beautiful and sacred and dignified is the calling. 
Magnify it before men, and they will in turn magnify 
that which you do. 

2. Qualifications of the Successful Song Evangelist. 



The Music of the Meeting 193 

(1) He must be a real musician. 

The time has long since passed when one who **has 
a good voice" can go out with a two weeks' training, 
and become a successful song evangelist. To-day, 
great numbers in every congregation of any size at all 
have had musical training. People go far in these 
modern times to prepare themselves in the realm of 
music. In our public schools, attention is paid to 
music in a way that was unthought of twenty years 
ago. The song evangelist will deal with musicians, 
and if he is to hold their respect, if he is to organize 
and hold a great evangelistic choir, he must be able 
to do well the thing he has been called to do. If 
he is to make a success with the audience, he must be 
a little better than the average run of musicians. 

(2) He must be a Christian gentleman. 
Certainly this is a prime consideration. There 

have been in the past, unfortunately, those who have 
not had the exalted ideal of the office which they 
should have had. They have, by their loose lives, 
brought disgrace to the calling and dragged the fair 
name of the church in the mire of their own indiscre- 
tions. For such we have no defense. No individual 
of this type has any place in the work of soul- 
winning. There are grave temptations which come 
to the musician. These temptations arise partly from 
his own temperament, which has always been somewhat 
erratic, and partly from the close association which his 
position gives with the people. He must be constantly 
on his guard and continually in prayer, for at the 
hour that he thinks not the tempter may come in an 
alluring manner which may be irresistible. His life 
must always be an exemplification of the Christ whom 

13 



194 New Testament Evangelism 

he preaches in the cadences of his song. He must 
constantly keep before him the object of his ministry. 
He is not a mere entertainer; he is a soul- winner. 
His music must be planned with that end in view. 
Thousands have been converted by gospel songs who 
have never been reached with sermons. If the song 
evangelist is concerned only that he may be an artist, 
to please by the artistry of his voice, then he should 
seek another sphere for his talents, for the song evan- 
gelist is first of all an ambassador of the King of 
glory; he is a fisher of men, a winner of souls. 

(3) He must be possessed of personality. 

We have considered at some length the subject of 
personality in our discussion of the qualifications of 
the evangelist. That elusive something, so hard to 
define, but so necessary to success, must be possessed 
by the singer of the gospel message. There are cer- 
tain elements which go to make up the right kind of 
personality for this important service. 

a. Affability is one element of a strong personality. 

Nothing can take the place of sweetness and whole- 
someness of disposition. The one who knows how to 
smile, even though things go wrong and his work is 
at times discouraging, will ever have a multitude of 
friends who will strive with him manfully for a 
victory. Keeping ever in mind the fact that spiritual 
life is born in an atmosphere warm and bright, and 
also the fact that it is largely the work of the leader 
of song to create this atmosphere for the message, 
it necessarily follows that the singer must himself be 
a veritable generator of sunshine. The humor so nec- 
essary in warming an audience, when at times they 
are cold and unresponsive, will come from this sun- 



The Music of the Meeting 195 

shine personality. I do not think this element can be 
overemphasized. From it will come that fine ability 
to say, to those who have done exceptionally well, 
those little words of appreciation which mean so mucl^ 
to the musical temperament. This broad term "affa- 
bility," then, defines a basic thing in the personality 
of a real song evangelist. 

h. *'Pep," or enthusiasm, is another fundamental 
element in a successful personality for the song evan- 
gelistic field. 

The song evangelist must not be afraid to move. 
There is no call for the lazy man in this work. I 
remember one fine young singer whose leading was 
faultless from the standpoint of the pure technique 
of the thing, but who was an absolute failure because 
he lacked that enthusiasm which alone can set fire 
to an audience. And the audience must be set on 
fire. Nothing will kill a meeting so quickly as to have 
an audience to whom the church building is a refrig- 
erator. The song evangelist must be the dynamo. 
He must make the power and "pep" of the meeting. 
If he fails in this, he has failed altogether. If he 
does not in his own disposition possess the element of 
enthusiasm, he had better stay out of the evangelistic 
work, for the evangelist, be he singer or preacher, 
must have an inexhaustible fund of enthusiasm. 

c. He must be a cultured man. 

The position of one who leads a great audience in 
the uplifting experience of gospel song forbids the 
use of that which is crude and untutored. Crude 
things, which shock the sensibilities of the finest peo^ 
pie, are absolutely out of order, and one, to be him- 
self sensitive to these things, mast have that culture 



196 New Testament Evangelism 

which alone can make him know what is acceptable 
and what is wrong. The singer will go into the best 
homes of the land. He must not only know the 
fundamental things of etiquette, but he must be able 
to carry on an intelligent conversation on the things 
that are of interest to the lives of men. He can not 
sit still like a grouch, for it is frequently the ability 
to deport himself in an interesting and entertaining 
manner which will enhance his work for the Lord. 
He must be able instantly to command the respect 
and admiration of the very best people. 

d. He must possess the ability to handle people 
diplomatically. 

It is his fortune to deal directly with the most 
sensitive class of people in the world. Musicians are 
temperamental. They are easily offended. The artistic 
temperament is high strung. Samantha Allen de-' 
scribed them correctly when she said that musicians 
''have narves, doggone 'em." My good friend and 
fellow-laborer, Professor Hohgatt, strikingly puts it 
that they have a good deal of ''senseless sensitive- 
ness." Now, the song evangelist must deal with this 
disposition in a manner which will be pleasing to all. 
He must not only be able to build up a fine musical 
organization, but he must be able to maintain that 
organization intact. The last work will be much 
harder than the first. It is in maintaining the 
organization that the singer usually gathers to himself 
the gray hairs. If he is a blunderbuss and knows 
but little of the art of handling people, he will have 
a hard time of it. If, however, he possesses that fine 
and peculiar talent of making all folks like him and 
like each other, he will be a success. The same ability 



The Music of the Meeting 197 

in handling the smaller group in the choir will be of 
even greater value in handling the audiences. The 
tendency to keep all the people in a good humor will 
creep into his leading of the songs and into his efforts 
to do personal work. 

(4) He must be a good personal worker. 

The work of the song evangelist is not completed 
in the leading of a thirty-minute song service at 
night. There is a grave danger that young men may 
go out into the work with that idea in mind. They 
are musicians, and they are not concerned with any- 
thing but the musical program of the meeting. But 
what a sad mistake this is! This delightful part of 
the work is only, after all, a part. There are a thou- 
sand other things which enter into the real work of 
a soul-winner whose specialty is gospel music. He 
must be able to make talks to the Bible school; to 
high-school students; to railroad men, and to other 
groups of laboring men; to the missionary societies 
in the church, and many other talks of this nature. 
He must be able so to bring the gospel to the indi- 
vidual prospect that he will win him to the Lord. 
All of our modern churches, when they extend calls 
to a song evangelist, want him to be an efficient and 
untiring personal worker. He should, therefore, be 
qualified to lead in this important service. He should 
know how to organize personal workers' bands for the 
meeting, and he will not be successful in this unless 
he himself knows how to lead a man to the Saviour. 
Personal work will keep him human, and will add 
power and enthusiasm to his music. When he knows 
that there are those in the audience with whom he 
has labored to bring them to the Christ, he will be 



198 New Testament Evangelism 

more anxious that everything he does in his part of 
the service will be done in the most effective man- 
ner, so that they may be brought to a decision. 

3. The Preparation of the Song Evangelist for 
His Work. 

(1) The necessity for preparation. 

The necessity for a careful preparation for the 
song evangelist is manifest when we consider the work 
he must do. No unprepared man can do this work. 
It has been evident in the past, also, that many have 
attempted the work of a song evangelist without the 
proper preparation. I talked recently with a young 
man who desired to enter the general evangelistic 
field. He said that he thought a three weeks' course 
in a certain summer school would fit him for the 
responsible position of one who is to lead men to 
Christ. The lack of thorough preparation has been, 
more than any other one thing, the reason why the 
office of the song evangelist has not received the 
respect which, because of its importance, is its rightful 
due. Men who are unprepared can not expect many 
calls to service, nor can they expect much in the way 
of remuneration for their work. There is always 
room at the top, and the man who is prepared will 
never for a moment lack for work in the wide vine- 
yard of our Master. The minister must spend long 
and arduous years in preparing for his life-work. 
"Why should not the same degree of preparation be 
required of the man who is to preach through song? 

(2) Some suggestions regarding the training of 
the song evangelist. 

a. He should certainly have a broad general cul- 
ture, such as is given by the average A. B. college 



The Music of the Meeting 199 

course. The work of the college graduate in the song 
evangelistic field is always a different type of work 
from that which the man who has not had the advan- 
tage of this training does. Not for a moment would 
we shut out the man who has ability to lead music, 
and has not had a chance to secure the cultural edu- 
cation in college, but we must remember that we are 
talking in these lectures of the very best, of the ideal 
if you will, and if one would approximate the ideal 
song evangelist, he will do the work necessary for 
the winning of the A. B. degree. 

b. He must be trained in music. 

He should certainly know the thing with which 
he is to deal. He should have a trained voice. He 
should know something about the history of the great 
hymns and about the work of the really great musi- 
cians. It would be well, also, if he could know some- 
thing about composition, so that he could be able to 
write some evangelistic hymns, that he might be able 
to do some productive work in advancing the cause 
of the gospel in song. It would not be a bad thing, 
also, if he could have some knowledge of instrumental 
music, either the piano or the trombone. There are 
many times when he would be glad if he knew how 
to play hymns on the piano. In homes of sickness 
or sorrow he will be happy if he can sit down to the 
piano and accompany himself in a song. 

c. He must be trained in personal evangelism. 

He must know something about the Word of God 
and the rudiments of apologetics. A knowledge of 
''Old Testament History," and a course or two in 
''New Testament Exegesis," will be of tremendous 
help in winning men. In addition, he should have 



200 New Testament Evangelism 

some knowledge of the principles of psychology. He 
must know something of the soul of man. A course, 
if possible to obtain it, in "The Psychology of 
Eeligion," will be a very helpful part of his educa- 
tion as a personal worker. The methods of personal 
evangelism must not be neglected. He must know 
how to approach the sinner, and how to appeal to him 
in the most effective way to win him from his sins 
to confess and obey the Lord. 

Practically all the courses I have mentioned here 
can be taken in the average four-year college course, 
if a college is chosen where there is a school of divin- 
ity. This is the only type of school which should 
be attended by one who desires to prepare himself 
for a Christian worker. The average seminary to-day 
does not train evangelistic singers as such, although 
there is evidence now in many places that some of 
the best schools are taking a greater interest in these 
things than schools heretofore have shown. There is 
a fine course given now in Boston University, in 
evangelism, with special reference to the personal 
side of it. Yale also has a course of this nature, and 
the Bible Teachers' Training School of New York 
City has some courses which give promise of better 
things for the future. 

d. It would be well to have some training in sign- 
painting and chalk-work. 

This is not altogether necessary, but it is at times 
very helpful. The song evangelist will not always 
work in the great, strong churches where an abun- 
dance of wealth makes it possible for artists in their 
realm to be hired for sign-painters, etc. He will 
often work in the small place where the cause is little 



The Music of the Meeting 201 

known, and where consequently he will be forced 
to carry the burden of this work. It will, in this 
type of a place, be of value to him if he knows some- 
thing about this kind of work. The chalk-work will 
be of help in addressing schools and Sunday-school 
classes, and also in the meetings of his children's 
chorus. One can't have too many things to fall back 
on, and the advice of the old fellow to his son is in 
order just here: *'Git a-plenty while yer gittin'.'* 
The knowledge of a practical nature always pays in 
the long run, and the work of the real song evangelist 
is a long run. 

I want to repeat here that we are talking of the 
ideal song evangelist. I do not want one of you to 
get the thought that because it may be impossible 
to have all these things in your training, there will 
be no need to make an attempt to serve the Lord in 
this field. I once went fishing with a friend of mine. 
I had a fine, new steel pole with all the paraphernalia 
of the latest pattern for catching trout. He had an old 
pole of bamboo, and a line which had been used for 
a long time. He caught two fish to my one, because 
he knew how to fish. If you know how to fish and 
can really catch them, go ahead catching them, even 
though you use the old bamboo pole. Thoagh para- 
phernalia is an aid, the main thing to remember is that 
we are to catch fish. 

II. The Music of the Meeting. 

1. The Choirs. 
(1) The adult choir. 

The necessity for a large adult chorus is evident 
to every man who has had large experience in the 



202 New Testament Evangelism 

evangelistic field. If one can secure a large and faith- 
ful chorus, the success of the meeting, all other things 
being equal, is assured. There are at least three rea- 
sons for the large chorus, as opposed to the small, 
highly trained choir or the quartette. 

a. The psychological reason. 

I expect you will think that I use the word ** psy- 
chological" a great many times in these talks. It is 
used thus because the soul-winner will become well 
acquainted with the word. And there is certainly a 
psychological reason for the large chorus. The people 
love to hear a great choir sing. Music charms men, 
and no matter what their race or condition they will 
come to hear it. If the music of a meeting is to be 
great, it must be led by a great choir. Everything 
in a meeting must be larger than the usual thing if it 
is to attract men. The sermon is larger, the prayers 
are more intense and the singing is more happy and 
enthusiastic. When people know that a great choir 
has been organized, that extra room has been secured 
for the choir, they are going to unconsciously think 
of the meeting in bigger terms. 

&. A large choir leads the congregational singing. 
A leader alone, unless he possess an exceptional voice, 
will have difficulty in leading a large audience. A 
chorus of power behind him will lead the great audi- 
ence on the wings of song until the whole building 
will be a melody of praise. In a word, the greater 
the choir, the finer and more universal will be the 
congregational singing. 

c. A large chorus is also a prime necessity in sus- 
taining a powerful and prolonged invitation. It is 
always noticeable that the people do not sing very 



The Music of the Meeting 203 

much in an invitation song. This is more certain if 
large numbers are responding to the plea. Again, 
if the audience is interested, either individually or 
collectively, in a person or persons who should accept 
the invitation, they will forget to sing. The great 
choir is necessary, therefore, to keep that invitation 
going. They must be trained to think of one thing, 
and one alone, and that the singing of the invitation 
song, with all the earnestness and power at their com- 
mand. They should watch the leader every minute, 
and remember but one thing, and but one alone, and 
that to sing. A small choir can not keep the invita- 
tion alive. In number the choir should be at least 
one-tenth of the total seating capacity of the audi- 
torium. 

d. What kind of people should be invited into the 
chorus ? 

This is always a live question. Those who come 
should certainly be able to sing. It is not necessary 
that they have highly trained voices, for frequently 
such singers are not good choir members. They are 
too much interested in the mere artistry of the thing 
and not enough in the souls of men. Those who can 
carry a tune and who are able to read, either by 
note or by position, should be invited. Care should 
be exercised, however, to see to it that those who are 
invited are men and women of good character. Noth- 
ing will have such a bad effect on an audience as to 
have some in the choir whose lives are not what they 
should be. If a man is notorious for his wickedness, 
the choir is not the place for him. It is really best 
to fill up the choir seats with those who are conse- 
crated and faithful Christians. Some of these things 



204 New Testament Evangelism 

may seem like kindergarten lessons, but they are 
vital and must be observed if our soul-winning efforts 
are to be attended with success. 

e. What is the best method to use in organizing 
an evangelistic chorus? 

The organization of the evangelistic choir should, 
really begin before the meeting commences. A music 
committee should be organized and set to work 
inviting those who are eligible to the chorus. In this 
manner an interest is aroused in the work before the 
leader comes to the field. It is not bad for a few 
practices to take place before the meeting begins, 
always bearing in mind that new songs should be 
used in these practices. It will be hard to hold the new 
choir unless new work is given to it. After the meeting 
begins, the committee should be continued and should 
be urged to be alert and watchful for new singers. 
Many new singers will be brought out of whom there 
was no knowledge before the meeting started. It is 
not wise to give a public invitation, for one is in 
danger of filling up the seats with those who can not 
do the work a singer should do. Again, many times 
those who are unfit in other ways to stand before an 
audience and lead in gospel singing will take their 
places in the choir. This will drive out those who 
are real singers, for it must always be remembered 
that singers — real musicians — ^have ^'narves." 

/. The proper arrangement of choir seats. 

This may seem like a strange subject to bring into 
our discussion here, but let us remember that we are 
dealing with practical considerations and this is a 
practical question. The seats of a chorus should be 
built in terraces, each one higher than the one in 



The Music of the Meeting 205 

front of it, and in the form of a half-circle, with 
the ends of the half-circle extending toward the 
leader. The members of the choir desire to see the 
leader, and it is necessary that they see him if they 
are to do their best in following his leadership. Not 
only do they want to see him, but they want to be 
where they can see the audience and be seen by the 
audience. This, perhaps, is another analysis of the 
musical disposition, but it is human nature to desire 
to be seen and appreciated when we are doing a 
special thing, and singing in a great evangelistic 
choir is a special thing. I have often noticed singers 
when they are given their choice of seats in such a 
choir loft. They will always take the elevated seats. 
It should be remembered that voices will blend better 
when the seats are arranged in this manner, and the 
music will consequently be better and more effective 
in accomplishing the thing that gospel music should 
accomplish. 

(2) The children's chorus. 

The reason for a children's chorus is clear. Chil- 
dren should hear the gospel. They will be more inter- 
ested in hearing if they are given something to do. 
The work of a children's chorus is the very thing to 
keep them interested in the meeting. It not only 
interests them, but it interests the adults. Grown 
people are always interested in the children. They 
will always come to hear a crowd of children sing. 
In the words of my friend, Prof. Harold Richards: 
**If you get the children, you will get the grown 
people." This is certainly true. I do not know of 
any more effective way to get a great audience, and 
to hold them, than to have a great choir of childish 



206 New Testament Evangelism 

eingers. The choir is also a fine place to teach them 
about the church and their duty to the Master. Many 
of the additions of a meeting come from just such a 
chorus of children. I would advise you by all means 
to organize a children's chorus, and give that chorus 
something to do so that it may feel that it is an 
important part of the meeting. 

There is a fine psychological reason for having a 
name for your chorus and some distinguishing badge. 
These things develop a chorus consciousness. Then, 
also, a child likes to feel that he belongs to something 
which is a little different and of a little more distinc- 
tion than something which some other fellow has. 
There are many good names which may be given to a 
little folks' chorus. These names should be like the 
folks who are to wear them, bright and snappy. 
Following is a list of such names: ''Glee Club," 
''Sunshine Chorus," "Sunbeams," "Smile Chorus," 
"Sunshine Club," etc. 

The sunshine choir should be organized the very 
first Lord's Day. It is a mistake to wait until the 
meeting is half over. Power that should be conserved 
will be lost if one waits too long. On the very first 
Lord's Day of the meeting the singer can visit the 
classes in the Bible school, and tell them of his pro- 
posed chorus and ask them to help. That very night 
he can reserve a place, and a prominent place, for 
them near the adult choir. Thus he will get them 
to start into the meeting from the very beginning. 
It is not an easy thing these days to get children to 
attend church. The parents of most of them do not 
care whether they go or not, and some effort must 
be expended if they are to be interested in the gospel 



The Music of the Meeting 207 

message. Remember that the greater part of your 
additions will come from the young people, and wise 
indeed are you if you use every possible plan to get 
those young people to hear you. 

The afternoon meeting of the children's chorus 
is always an interesting and important meeting. These 
meetings should be held at least twice a week. In the 
meeting there should be a threefold aim — to entertain, 
to instruct and to train. Children require some enter- 
tainment, so it will be necessary to use some plan 
whereby this need can be satisfied. Tell them a good 
story or give them a good chalk-talk. They should 
also be instructed in some of the simple lessons of 
the gospel. It will be found that this is a fine time 
to tell them of the first principles, what to do to 
become a Christian, etc. They can be taught Scrip- 
ture verses which can be read in unison during the 
meeting itself. Then, also, of course, this will be the 
place where the songs which are to be used as special 
numbers will be learned. It is possible to use this 
hour in a very effective manner by saying something 
about the duty of the children to accept Christ. 

2. The Orchestra. 

Wherever it is possible to assemble one, an orches- 
tra will always be of great value in a meeting. It 
is a fine thing for the same reasons that a chorus 
is a fine thing. It helps to draw an audience, for 
people these days love to hear an orchestra play. 
Wherever there is a good orchestra there you will find 
a good crowd of people. The number of instruments 
which can be used to advantage is limited only by 
the space for their accommodation. I like to have 
a pipe-organ, which, by the way, is the king of all 



208 New Testament Evangelism 

instruments, and two pianos. In addition to this, I 
love as many orchestral pieces as can be gathered 
together. There is only one way to have an orchestra 
and that is to go right after it and organize it. 
3. The Congregational Singing in the Meeting. 

(1) The Scrip turalness of congregational singing. 
The Scriptures are full of song. No sooner had 

the dangers of the Eed Sea been passed than there 
came from the hearts of Moses and the children of 
Israel a noble song. David was the sweet singer of 
Israel. With his song and his harp he is ''the musi- 
cian of the Bible.'' In the glorious service of the 
temple there was a trained choir of singers, and with 
it a full orchestra. All the way through the Bible 
we are hearing the songs of gladness, and the com- 
mands for us to sing unto the Lord with the spirit 
and the understanding. The last scenes of the Word 
are those of joy and gladness manifesting itself in 
songs around the throne. 

(2) The object of congregational singing. 

The very best discussion of the object of congrega- 
tional song is given in the noble volume of Professor 
Gardner, ''Psychology and Preaching.*'^ I shall fol- 
low him rather closely. 

a. The object of congregational singing, besides 
that of worship and praise, is psychic fusion, the 
reduction of individuality to the minimum and the 
melting of the whole audience into a psychic mass. 
It is a process of inhibiting the coldly critical atti- 
tude on the part of the audience, or members of it, 
and melting it all into one sympathetic and receptive 
mass. 



'Psychology and Preaching," Gardner (Ohap. IX.). 



The Music of the Meeting 209 

h. An evangelistic service is an inspirational gath- 
ering, a purposive assembly, and as such follows the 
known laws which control such assemblies. There are 
three definite characteristics of such an assembly: 

First — *'It is physically segregated." It is 
enclosed in a building which segregates it from the 
rest of the world. There is, therefore, a sense of local 
unity. The people feel that they are a little world 
of themselves, and this feeling of local unity is pro- 
ductive of a sense of psychic unity. The evangelist 
who has conducted meetings in the open air, where 
there are all kinds of distracting influences which tend 
to destroy the psychic unity, knows well the added 
power of physical segregation where the influences of 
a disturbing nature do not come. 

Second — ''The members of the purposive assembly 
have a unity of purpose in being present." To be 
sure, there are a multitude of motives for people 
being present in an evangelistic service. They are 
there to be entertained, to visit some neighbor or 
friend, to enjoy the good music, or for other reasons, 
so that the unity of purpose may be relative and 
indefinite; but, broadly speaking, those who have come 
have to a large extent put aside temporarily the cares 
of business and of domestic life and have come in at 
least a partially receptive mood. The general unity 
of purpose in being present, though it may at times 
be loose and indefinite, is nevertheless a bond of 
psychic strength and possibility. 

Third — "The members of the purposive assembly 
are there to be entertained or stimulated or influenced 
in some deflnite way." This is by far the most impor- 
tant characteristic of the purposive assembly, and 

14 



210 New Testament Evangelism 

especially is it true as applied to the evangelistic 
service. On the whole, the audience is present because 
of interest, and because they wish to be under the 
influences which are so powerfully brought to bear in 
the successful evangelistic service. The audience may 
not always take part in everything that the leaders 
ask them to do, but they are present with the 
deliberate and definite purpose of receiving some intel- 
lectual or emotional stimulation. ''This receptive 
attitude is a very significant factor in the psycho- 
logical situation, an important condition of the psy- 
chical effects which may be produced.'' 

Now, with all these things in favor of the leader 
of song in a meeting, it is his business to melt the 
hearers into one psychical mass so that they may 
receive with readiness the implanted Word which is 
able to save their souls. All the antagonistic influ- 
ences must be destroyed, or at least reduced to a 
minimum, if the greatest results are to be attained. 
The necessity for this fusion is manifest to the stu- 
dent of audiences. If there are those in any consid- 
erable number, in an audience, who are hostile to the 
message which is to be delivered, or if they constantly 
refuse to join in with the exercises — for illustration, 
the singing — then the results will be considerably 
modified and the message will not be received with 
the readiness which otherwise would be its portion. 

(3) ''The means by which psychic fusion may be 
promoted. ' ' 

First — "The close crowding of the people.'' The 
evangelist who has had experience in handling audi- 
ences has had many sad memories of those which 
were scattered in a large building. It seemed some- 



The Music of the Meeting 211 

how that the whole service was cold and the audience 
was unresponsive. Such an audience reminds one of 
a large number of mental islands in a sea of space. 
And such indeed they are. Each person is an empha- 
sized individuality, and the very thing for which the 
preacher and song leader strives is defeated. There 
is but little psychic fusion, but an emphasis of indi- 
viduality. It is more difficult to focus the attention 
of such an audience, and those influences which creep 
into even the best regulated service to distract attention 
are more pronounced and more readily received. 
"Bodily proximity to a group of persons renders the 
passing of influences from one to another much more 
rapid and easy. Slight movements, subtle and fleeting 
changes of countenance, are more readily observed, 
and the ideas and feelings of which they are the 
expression are more surely and rapidly communi- 
cated." Pack your people close together. Even if 
the audience is small, have the people all come together 
in some part of the building, and the meeting will be 
much more effective; it will be far easier to start a 
current of feeling. The wise song leader will study 
these things, and will seek to apply them that his 
song may do the things for which it was brought 
into being. 

The crowding of people has also another power 
in promoting the psychic fusion so necessary to suc- 
cessful reception of the truth. Sidis, speaking of 
voluntary movements, says: "If anything gives us 
a strong sense of our individuality, it is surely our 
voluntary movements. . . . Conversely, the life of the 
individual self sinks, shrinks with the decrease of 
variety and intensity of voluntary movements." Pro- 



212 New Testament Evangelism 

fessor Gardner quotes Ross as quoting the foregoing 
words, and adding: ''Often a furious, naughty child 
will suddenly become meek and obedient after being 
held a moment as in a vise. On the playground a 
saucy boy will abruptly surrender and 'take it back' 
when held on the ground without power to move 
hand or foot. The cause is not fear, but the defla- 
tion of the ego." Thus it is that the close crowding 
of the people has the effect of doing two things which 
promote psychical unity: (a) It makes impossible the 
changing of the position, the stretching of the limbs, 
etc., and thus the limit upon their bodily movements 
produces a feeling of mental unity. (&) The restraint 
imposed also has a tendency to lessen the feeling of 
individuality, and the consequent melting of the per- 
sonality into the mass is effected. 

Second — "Concerted bodily movement" is another 
important means of bringing about psychic fusion. 
"Just as the necessity of keeping the body in the 
same attitude or position by reason of close crowding 
has the tendency to induce mental unity in a group, 
so does the performance of the same act at the same 
time by all the persons present." Thus it is that 
in the evangelistic service the leader will insist, if 
he be the right kind of leader, on all the folks 
present joining in the thing which is being done by 
the crowd. He will try to get them to forget their 
troubles, and care and think about the matter in 
hand and do the thing which all the others are doing. 
Thus it is well to have people not only sing together, 
but occasionally to stand together or to read some 
Scriptures together or to pray together. It is this 
joining in the concerted action which produces the 



The Music of the Meeting 213 

mental unity required. **One reason why the pre- 
vention of bodily movements by crowding furthers 
the fusion process is that persons widely separated in 
a gathering will move individually without respect to 
the movements of others, and this keeps alive the 
sense of individuality, whereas the same movements, if 
performed by all, would have the opposite tendency." 
Third — Congregational singing, the very matter 
which we are here considering, is one of the most 
effective means, especially among non-ritualistic bodies, 
of bringing about a condition of mental unity. This 
is true not only because it is concerted action, but 
also because of the powerful effectiveness of sacred 
music to stir the emotions. One can not sing a great 
gospel song, in which some wonderful truth has been 
shrouded with beauty and rhythm, and at the same 
time think about the things of his daily life. The 
more enthusiastic and stirring the song, and the 
greater the volume of the singing, the more will the 
individual lose himself in the spirit of the whole ser- 
vice, the more will the necessary psychic unity or 
fusion be accomplished. This is the reason that every 
really effective evangelist in the history of the Chris- 
tian religion has seen the value of well-planned and 
properly executed congregational singing. "We have 
used the phrase, in explaining the utility of congre- 
gational singing, ''preparation for the sermon," and 
such it is. The preacher would indeed have a long 
and wearisome task if he faced a cold and individual- 
istic audience with his gospel dynamite. It is the 
softening, melting effect of gospel singing which ''gets 
them ready" for the proclamation of the truth as it 
is in Christ Jesus. 



214 New Testament Evangelism 

(4) What type of songs should be used in the 
distinctively evangelistic service? Is there really an 
evangelistic type? Some there are who by their 
actions at least seem not to believe that there really 
is a type of song which may be distinguished from 
others by the term "evangelistic." That there is a 
distinctively evangelistic type of song, and that that 
is the type which must be used in evangelistic efforts, 
will not be denied by any evangelist or evangelistic 
singer. A consideration of this type of song is here 
in order. 

a. First of all, an evangelistic service should not 
be composed of songs which are purely devotional. 

The songs which are chosen often reflect the mood 
of the singer or the nature which is his. Some men 
are devotional in their very nature; others are not. 
Many times it will be noticeable that the evangelistic 
singer who is really a musician will incline to the 
devotional in his work. He is an artist, and the 
artistic temperament, loving the beautiful, is readily 
sensible to the poetic and devotional elements in the 
gospel songs. The singer will be forced to exercise 
care in this matter, that he reflect not his own mood 
in the type of songs which he chooses. Some songs 
belong to the prayer-meeting or to the morning wor- 
ship. For instance, in one meeting when a great 
crowd had assembled and it was manifestly the time 
to begin the service with a great, stirring, militant 
song, the leader announced the hymn, '' 'Tis the 
Blessed Hour of Prayer." Now, this is a great song. 
There was nothing wrong with it at all, but it simply 
was not the kind of song to be sung in an evangelistic 
service, and especially at the beginning of it. There 



The Music of the Meeting 215 

is a wide difference between the emotions of the Chris^ 
tian man and that one who is not a Christian. Paul 
states it well when he says: ''Now the natural man 
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for 
they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know 
them, because they are spiritually judged" (1 Cor. 
2:14). The purely devotional song is for the man 
of faith and obedience, the one who would pour out 
his soul in joy and adoration to God. This type of 
song is not for the sinner. What joy and calm con- 
fidence in the power of the Saviour can be expressed 
in the following song: 

**He leadeth me I O blessed thought I 
O words with heavenly comfort fraught I 
Whate'er I do, where'er I be, 
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth mo. 

Chorus. 

"He leadeth me, He leadeth m^ 
By His own hand He leadeth me; 
His faithful follower I would be, 
Por by His hand He leadeth me.'* 

But, though this song can be understood and 
appreciated by the Christian, and while to him it would 
be a glorious medium through which to express the 
stedfast faith which is his, it would scarcely be the 
song for an evangelistic service where there are hun- 
dreds who are not led by the divine hand. It is purely 
a devotional song. 

&. As the backbone of the preaching in a meeting 
should be the great doctrinal themes of the Word, so 
the backbone of the congregational songs should be 
those of a militant nature. 



216 New Testament Evangelism 

The great militant songs — the war songs, if you 
will — are the biggest congregational songs for an 
evangelistic campaign. They appeal to the heroic, 
they appeal to the will, they cause men to think in 
terms of decision. They have the spirit and power 
in them to make a man forget all else save the swing 
of the martial music and the force of the stirring 
words. In a word, they lend greatly to the produc- 
tion of psychic fusion. Consider, for illustration, that 
powerful old song, "Sound the Battle-cry." 

** Sound the battle-cry! See, the foe is nigh! 
Haise the standard high for the Lord. 
Gird your armor on! Stand firm, every one I 
Best your cause upon His holy Word. 

Chorus. 

**Eouse then, soldiers, rally 'round the banner, 
Eeady, steady, pass the word along; 
Onward, forward, shout aloud hosanna, 

Christ is Captain of a mighty throng. ' ' 

What power there is in a song like this! How it 
stirs men out of their lethargy to action. There is 
an awakening force in the words themselves which 
is the very thing to make men alive unto God. Or 
note another one: 

HOLD THE FOET. 

*'Ho, my comrades, see the signal 
Waving in the sky! 
Eeinforcements now appearing, 
Victory is nigh. 

"See the mighty hosts advancing, 
Satan leading on; 
Mighty men around us falling, 
Courage almost gone! 



The Music of the Meeting 217 

** Fierce and long the battle rages, 
But our help is near; 
Onward comes our great Commander; 
Cheer, my comrades, cheer. 

Chorus. 

**Hold the fort, for I am coming! 
Jesus signals still; 
Wave the answer back to heaven, 
* By Thy grace we will I ' " 

One can not sing a song like this without having 
the war-blood pound through his veins, and remember 
that evangelism is war. We are to kill men for the 
Lord. We are on the firing-line, battling for the 
great Captain of our salvation. There are scores, and 
even hundreds, of the great war songs of the church 
of God, and these are the songs which stir men to 
action. 

(5) The warm, bright songs employing the short 
unit should be used as extensively as the militant 
songs. 

Spiritual life is born in the bright^ warm sunshine, 
not in the cold atmosphere of pure intellectuality. 
We have repeatedly mentioned this fact in these talks, 
but how important it is that we get this view of the 
whole matter. Dunlap has well expressed it: *'A 
short musical unit tends to light, vivacious or joyful 
effects, irrespective of the rapidity of succession of 
note or the melodic intervals employed. A unit which 
draws out the specious present slightly beyond the 
normal length produces a somber effect. A still 
longer unit, which is divided between two not long 
spans of consciousness, gives an effect which is solemn, 



218 New Testament Evangelism 

but not sad." There are scores of illustrations which 
might be given here. Let us notice a few of them. 

SUNSHINE IN THE SOUL. 

** There is sunshine in my soul to-day, 
More glorious and bright 
Than glows in any earthly skies, 
For Jesus is my light. 

** There is music in my soul to-day, 
A carol to the King, 
And Jesus, listening, can hear 
The songs I can not sing. 

"There is springtime in my soul to-day, 
Por, when the Lord is near, 
The dove of peace sings in my heart, 
The flowers of grace appear. 

*' There is gladness in my soul to-day. 
And hope, and praise, and love, 
"For blessings which He gives me now, 
Por joys laid up above. 

Chorus. 

"O there's sunshine, blessed sunshine, 
When the peaceful, happy moments roll; 
When Jesus shows His smiling face, 
There is sunshine in the soul.'' 

How replete is this mighty song with bright, warm 
words! Sunshine, glorious, bright, glows, light, carol, 
springtime, sings, flowers, gladness, hope, praise, love, 
joys, blessed, happy, smiling — these words alone, 
without the warm, stirring music, would kindle a 
^arm fire in the heart of the hardest man. While 
this song is semi-devotional, yet it is a wonderful 
illustration of the bright, happy song which is so 



The Music of the Meeting 219 

much a part of a real evangelistic service. Another 
song will illustrate what we mean when we speak of 
the warm, bright song. The famous ''Brighten the 
Corner Where You Are," used so much in the great 
Billy Sunday meetings, is the type of which we are 
speaking. Not only is the music, like that of ''There 
Is Sunshine in My Soul To-day," of the quick, lively 
kind, but the words are those which brighten and 
make enthusiastic the singers. 

**Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do, 
Do not wait to shed your light afar, 
To the many duties ever near you now be true, 
Brighten the corner where you are. 

Choeus. 

*' Brighten the corner where you arel 

Brighten the corner where you arel 
Some one far from harbor you may guide across the bar, 
Brighten the corner where you are."'^ 

Or notice, again, that other wonderful song which 
has been sung so often all over the United States, 
"Since Jesus Came into My Heart." 

**What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought 
Since Jesus came into my heart; 
I have light in my soul for which long I have sought, 
Since Jesus came into my heart. 

"I have ceased from my wanderings and going astray, 
Since Jesus came into my heart; 
And my sins which were many are all washed away. 
Since Jesus came into my heart. 

"I'm possessed of a hope which is stedfast and sure, 
Since Jesus came into my heart; 
And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure. 
Since Jesus came into my heart. 



220 New Testament Evangelism 

'* There's a light in the valley of death now for me, 
Since Jesus came into my heart; 
And the gates of the city beyond I can see, 
Since Jesus came into my heart. 

"I shall go there to dwell in that city, I know, 
Since Jesus came into my heart; 
And I'm happy, so happy, as onward I go, 
Since Jesus came into my heart. '* 

Chorus. 

"Since Jesus came into my heart, 
Since Jesus came into my heart; 

Floods of joy o'er my soul 

Like the sea billows roll, 
Since Jesus came into my heart.*' 

I have given all of this song because every verse 
so well illustrates the type of song needed to-day in 
evangelistic work. There is in this song the warmth 
and brightness required. It is a great and triumphant 
testimonial of an unfaltering faith. It is a sermon 
to the sinner on the joy of being a servant of God. 
It has the enthusiasm and militancy of a war song. 
Such songs as this will ever move people to decision, 
and warm them to a greater love for the Master which 
will bring them to surrender their all unto Him. 

(6) We must use the songs which are doctrinally 
correct. 

It must be remembered that a song has a teach- 
ing value as well as the power to stimulate the emo- 
tions. If the doctrines it teaches are unscriptural, 
the song should not be used. Many of the song 
writers, while they have been fine Christian men and 
women, have frequently known but little about the 
teachings of the Word of God, with the result that 



The Music of the Meeting 221 

their songs have often taught strange doctrines indeed. 
Again, many of the old conceptions which have later 
on in the history of Biblical criticism been proven to 
be erroneous and have been discarded, have been 
written into the songs. I remember a song which was 
sung with great earnestness and enthusiasm in a great 
union meeting a few years ago. It was entitled 
**Lord, Send the Power/' and the words of the chorus 
were as follows : 

"O Lord, send Thy power now; 
O Lord, send Thy power now; 
O Lord, send Thy power now, 
And convert every one. ' ' 

The old idea that the Lord converts people in a 

miraculous manner is here strongly taught, because 
the one sentence is the whole chorus, and its frequent 
repetition enforces the lesson it teaches with great 
emphasis. The belief that the Lord is going to do 
it all for the sinner, without the sinner doing any- 
thing, but in a passive manner receiving what the 
Lord has for him, is widespread enough without any 
more of such teaching in the songs. Another song 
which taught the same unscriptural doctrine was one 
entitled ''When the Fire Fell on Me." The very title 
of the song is enough to indicate its nature. 

We need to-day a return to the spirit of the old 
songs of the fathers, who believed in telling the story 
not only when they preached to men, but in the songs 
they used in their worship. Following is a song 
which teaches a great doctrinal lesson. The words 
were written by Mrs. A. M. K. Deidrick, of Altoona, 



222 New Testament Evangelism 

Pennsylvania, and the music by my friend, Prof. 
Cyrus Hersell Hohgatt: 

A BIBLE CHEISTIAN. 

'*A Bible Christian I will be, 

Por Christ has done so much for me; 
Then, how could I my Lord deny, 
And on the words of men rely? 

* * Though many follow human plans. 
Believe the creeds set up by man. 
No other creed have I to-day 
Than Christ, who is the Truth and Way, 

"The Word by inspiration given. 
The chart that points the way to heaven; 
On this I dare and will depend, 
And with my life its truth defend. 

"Believe in Christ, repent of sin. 
Confess your faith and peace you '11 win ; 
Then 'neath the waters with Him go. 
And you His peace and joy will know. 

Chorus. 

"The Bible's good enough for me. 
The Bible's truth my creed shall be; 
From human creeds I turn away, 
I stand for Christ alone to-day. 

(7) We should also use some songs which employ 
the longer unit, and therefore appeal to the deeper 
emotions. 

The longer unit draws out *'the span of conscious- 
ness," and therefore produces a solemn, somber effect. 
It is this type of music which appeals to the deeper 
emotions. Such songs are needed in every meeting 
for the production of variety, and as an expression 
of the emotions which are stirred as the meeting 



The Music of ihe Meeting 223 

progresses. No better illustration of this type of 
song can be given than ** Nearer, My God, to Thee": 

"Nearer, mj God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee, 
E*en though it be a cross 

That raiseth me. 
Still all my song shall be. 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee." 

This song can not be sung in a meeting until a 
high state of emotion has been reached. One can not 
start the meeting with such a song. The order is 
always from the lighter emotions to the deeper. This 
type of song can come better just before the prayer. 
The service should always start with some of the 
militant or bright, warm songs, and then rise in power 
to one of the great devotional, inspirational hymns 
which lift the soul just a little nearer to God. There 
are all kinds of people in an audience, and the singer 
should remember that they will require different songs 
to satisfy their varying desires. As in the preaching, 
so in the singing, variety should be a constant object 
and monotony should be shunned as one would shun a 
plague. 

(8) Considered from the purely psychological 
standpoint, we should sing those songs in a meeting 
''which most strongly stimulate those elements in our 
mental life which we have in common with our fellow- 
men, rather than those elements in which we are 
most highly differentiated." 

This type of song will be most effective in the 
production of the requisite psychic fusion. It is for 



224 New Testament Evangelism 

this reason that those songs, which are always the 
greatest revival songs, are simple in words and music, 
with frequent repetitions of some one phrase. It 
also accounts for the similarity between revival 
songs and those used in Sunday schools. Children 
possess the elemental feelings of the race; they are 
the most generic in their mental attitudes. Once 
more, to quote Professor Gardner, *'The rhythm of 
the music must correspond to the rhythm of the 
simpler feelings, and the ideas must be correspond- 
ingly simple." Our great national patriotic songs are 
of this character. They appeal to that universal 
sentiment, the love of home, or to the love of tradi- 
tions and things that are old. These are elemental 
emotions in human nature. No finer illustrations can 
be given than such songs as ''The Star-Spangled 
Banner" or ''My Country, 'Tis of Thee." And 
thus, also, in evangelistic music, the great universal 
emotions must be appealed to — the love of home, the 
love of God, the love for old things, the love of 
liberty, the love of parents. Dunlap, in speaking of 
the difference between the music which is purely 
intellectual and the elemental type, says: "In the 
music of the so-called intellectual sort there is no 
regular relation between the musical unit and the 
span of consciousness; the unit is here intentionally 
ideational, and does not appeal to the average hearer. ' ' 
The object of the hearer in such a case as this is 
that of musical appreciation, and not necessarily the 
stimulation of the emotions. It is always more or 
less the critical attitude, and consequently the song 
does not produce a high state of psychic fusion. 



The Music of the Meeting 225 

4. Some Considerations Which Force Themselves 
upon Us from This Discussion. 

(1) The necessity for evangelistic leading being 
more enthusiastic and of quicker time is emphasized. 

One often wonders why it is that the song evan- 
gelist whose success is widely known is always a man 
enthusiastic in his leading of the gospel songs. The 
type of songs he employs and the type which, as we 
have found, he must employ if he does the thing that 
a song evangelist should do, are such that they can 
not be led in any other manner. They lend them- 
selves to enthusiasm, for they are body and soul full 
of life and vim and warmth. The emotional is 
stressed and the purely intellectual is minimized. 
Of course the songs of the longer unit do not demand 
quickness of time — in fact, such leading would destroy 
their meaning — but, speaking broadly, the evangelistic 
song will be sung much faster than that used in the 
regular service. War songs — and evangelism is war — 
are always filled with the glow and fervor of the 
fight, and must be led in the manner of a soldier. 

(2) The imperative necessity for evangelistic song- 
books is also emphasized. 

If one has ever tried to conduct an evangelistic 
campaign, using an old book in which the prepon- 
derant number of songs were of the devotional type, 
he will know just what we mean here. If a certain 
type of song is necessary to produce the proper 
results, that song should by all means be used. While 
there are many things that are to be desired 
in the average modern evangelistic book, yet there 
are a large number of splendid books which may 
be secured to-day, and it will be an added interest 

15 



226 New Testament Evangelism 

to secure some one of them for the meeting. There 
is something new and striking in a book which has 
never been used before, with its bright, snappy songs, 
which will help to build up and maintain a fine evan- 
gelistic chorus. 

5. The Special Musical Numbers of the Meeting. 

(1) Special chorus numbers. 

There is a marked difference between the anthem 
which is used in the regular church services and the 
chorus number which is written especially for an 
evangelistic meeting. The choir number differs from 
the anthem in exactly the same way that the song 
usually employed in a regular service differs from 
the evangelistic song. It has an evangelistic spirit. 
It does not appeal so much to the intellectual; it is 
not quite so classic as the anthem. It is more of an 
appeal to the emotions than the anthem, because gen- 
erally it uses the shorter unit, is therefore more viva- 
cious, faster in its movement, warmer and brighter and 
more militant. Like the anthem, it is frequently 
exalted praise, but it is more frequently a war song. 
It has, both in words and music, the evangelistic 
swing, while the anthem is more stately. It is a 
stirring emotional appeal, while the anthem is worship 
and praise. This type of number will appeal to the 
great masses of the people, because it deals . with the 
universal sentiments; it stimulates those feelings which 
we have in common with our fellow-men, while the 
anthem, generally speaking, appeals more to the 
trained musician. 

The utility of the chorus number in an evan- 
gelistic meeting is realized by all who have used it in 
a successful manner, giving to it its proper place, 



The Music of the Meeting 227 

and endeavoring to have it sung with the spirit in 
which it was written. 

a. The choir number, sung by the great choir, is 
of great value in provoking interest. The people love 
to hear a great chorus song, and when they use with 
proper training some of the big and powerful choir 
numbers which have been written in the recent years, 
the people will come by droves to hear them. There 
is no better plan to secure a large and interested 
audience than to let it be known that a great choir 
will continually use choir numbers during the cam- 
paign. 

h. The choir number is also of value in that it 
appeals to the real musicians, and thus assists in 
both building up and maintaining a large chorus 
throughout the meeting. The best musicians will not 
continue long in a choir if nothing is sung but the 
old, worn-out songs. They will not stay in the choir 
merely from the sense of duty. That is no basis 
upon which to build a choir anyhow. Far better is a 
basis of interest. If new songs are being learned, and 
if those new songs include a large number of special 
chorus numbers, the chorus will be far more interested 
and faithful than if they are left out. It is not 
always so difficult to organize a chorus, but it is fre- 
quently difficult to maintain that chorus. Let there 
be new choir numbers, and it will stimulate interest 
among the members of the chorus. 

c. The chorus number is of assistance in building 
up a choir consciousness. The very fact that the 
choir, as a choir, has a special thing to do helps to 
build within that choir that consciousness of unity 
which is so essential if the music is to really be a 



228 New Testament Evangelism 

feature of the meeting. In a word, it helps to build 
up a team, and nothing succeeds in evangelistic effort 
like real team-work. The learning of the number and 
its practice gives the leader the chance to teach his 
choir members to watch him every moment, to follow 
his leading in everything, and to remember that, as a 
choir, they have a definite and important part in 
every service. This training is of tremendous value 
later on in the singing of the invitation songs. A 
choir trained to the minute to watch the leader and 
follow him always is the only kind of choir for a 
revival effort. Singers are human, after all, and it 
is but right that they should be given a chance 
to do something which will give them a place of 
prominence, where their efforts will be such as to 
receive words of appreciation. 

The place of the choir number in the program 
has been somewhat of a question with some singing 
evangelists. In reality, it seems to me that there is 
but one place, and that place is right at the begin- 
ning of the service. The leader, if the audience is 
large, and is coming in rapidly, can begin five min- 
utes early, and while they are finding their seats lead 
the choir in one of the great inspirational songs. This 
song will quiet the people, and prepare them for 
their part in the singing which follows immediately 
after. The choir number should never be sung during 
the taking of the offering. This is done at times, but 
it is always bad form, and poor psychology. To do 
two important things like this at once divides the 
interest, and both suffer; the offering is never quite 
so good, and the interest in the song is not what 
it would have been if the whole attention had been 



The Music of the Meeting 229 

given to the singing. There should not be too many- 
special numbers in a service. The meeting is not a 
program, and if too many songs are sung to the 
people, and they themselves do no singing at all, the 
service becomes an entertainment, and the spirit of 
it is lost. At most, two are sufficient, except on a 
Lord's Day night, when there might be a half -hour 
musical program preceding the service. This is always 
a fine thing, and never fails to attract a large audi- 
ence. The program is a thing separate, however, 
from the regular service, which, though it merges into 
the program, is nevertheless a regular evangelistic 
service, with its full number of congregational songs. 
In the week-days one song of a special nature, or at 
the most two, will be enough. 

(2) Duets, quartettes, trios, etc. 

It is always well to vary the program of special 
music by an occasional duet or quartette. A men's 
chorus is always a wonderful drawing-card. The male 
quartette is also one of the very finest musical attrac- 
tions during an evangelistic service. These different 
numbers add variety, and variety is always productive 
of interest. Let monotony creep into a meeting and 
death will ensue, and the meeting will be the corpse. 
Keep the people on the keen edge of expectancy by 
constantly having something new for them, and they 
will come to hear the music and the proclamation of 
the gospel. 

(3) The solo. 

The utility of a gospel solo is apparent to the one 
who knows how to win souls. There is nothing finer 
than the message of a great gospel song, if it be sung 



230 New Testament Evangelism 

by one whose life is fine and clean, and with a voice 
trained and disciplined into power and beauty. 

a. It is not a mere artistic thing sung for the 
entertainment of the audience. The solo is not given 
in order that the singer may show what a fine voice 
he possesses. In every meeting there are always those 
who have had some training, who desire to show off 
their musical accomplishments. They will invariably 
pick out some classical selection which, though beauti- 
ful and entirely proper in some other gathering, fails 
utterly to do the work required of a real gospel solo. 
The singing evangelist should never permit any one 
to sing unless he knows first of all that he knows 
how to sing a gospel message, and, second, unless he 
knows that the song he is to bring is a gospel sglo. 
He is the musical general, and it is his business 
to see that no mistake is made here. Generally speak- 
ing, those who desire to render the classical selection 
always choose Sunday night, for that is the time when 
a great crowd will assemble, and consequently the 
time above all others when one can best ''show off." 
The preacher, if he is a real servant of God, does not 
preach simply that he may show his voice. He 
preaches a message, and the attitude of the gospel 
singer should be the same as that of the minister. 

h. A gospel solo is a great gospel message set to 
sacred music. It is a spiritual thing, a vital thing, 
and it should be approached with as much thought 
and with as much prayer as the minister approaches 
the sermon. It is a work of great dignity, and one 
should remember this if he is to sing it in the spirit 
that will move men to a closer walk with God. When 
this fact is realized^ there is but one answer to the 



The Music of the Meeting 231 

question which sometimes arises, "What kind of a 
song should be sung as a solo in an evangelistic 
meeting?" The only kind of song which should be 
used is a great gospel song with a message in har- 
mony, if possible, with the sermon to be delivered. 
Any other kind of song will interject a foreign 
element into the meeting, which will mar the atmos- 
phere of the whole service. I have frequently had 
to ask the chorus leader to lead the congregation in a 
great congregational song after one who did not know 
these things had tried to sing some classic selection. 
This was done that we might get over the solo, that the 
bad taste might be taken out of our mouths. 

A solo can be sung much more effectively if it is 
committed to memory. A sermon is never quite so 
powerful if the preacher reads it, and a solo loses 
something if the singer is forced to look at his book 
while he is singing. It is not a hard thing to commit 
solos, especially when one sings them over and over 
again, and the effect produced when once the singer 
is able to sing them from memory is worth all the 
effort put forth. 

I can not refrain here, also, from mentioning a 
mistake which I have many times seen singers make 
in regard to the solo. The song to be sung was in 
the evangelistic book which the congregation used, 
and the singer would call their attention to the fact 
that he was going to sing a song found on a certain 
page. Immediately the people would turn to the song 
and study it while the singer was singing, instead of 
listening to the message and watching his face as he 
delivered it. The effect of the solo was cut down 
by fifty per cent. It is far better if one keeps the 



232 New Testament Evangelism 

eye upon himself as he brings the great gospel truth 
in some beautiful song. 

What position should the solo (or duet, quartette 
or trio) occupy in the program of the service? It 
has always seemed to me that the most psychological 
place is immediately following the announcement and 
just preceding the evening prayer. If it is placed 
here, the singer has time to rest from the exhausting 
rigors of the congregational song service, and after 
the solo is completed he has a breathing space before 
the last song just preceding the sermon. If the solo 
is, as we have said, a great spiritual thing, it will 
be the very best number in the whole program to 
prepare the people for the prayer. The program 
of the service then will be as follows: 

(a) A great choir number. 

(&) Three or four congregational songs (standing 
on one, preferably the first, for rest). 

(c) Announcements and offering. 

(d) Solo, quartette, duet or trio. 

(e) Prayer. 

(/) Congregational song (all standing). 

{g) Sermon. 

{h) Invitation. 

(i) Confessions or letters. 

{j) Baptisms. 

(k) Dismissal prayer. 

It should be understood that this is but a sug- 
gested program, and that no hard-and-fast rule can 
be given here, for every man must do the thing in his 
own way, but this plan has seemed to me to be the 
smoothest and best, and the most productive of results, 
for the average evangelistic service. 



The Miisic of the Meetmg 233 

6. The Invitation Song. 

The invitation song is by far the most important 
song of the whole service. Everything in the meet- 
ing is done to get ready for an invitation, and this 
is one song where no mistake can be tolerated. It is 
the highest point of the whole meeting. That a great 
need exists for good invitation songs is universally 
admitted. 

The majority of the songs used do not come up 
to the spirit of the occasion, and consequently are 
failures as far as their value as invitation songs is 
concerned. Most of the evangelistic song-books have 
a poor assortment of invitation hymns. It is to be 
hoped that the Lord will raise up some one who will 
write some songs which will be immortal because of 
their power in invitation. 

There are several qualities which should charac- 
terize a good invitation song. 

(1) First of all, the invitation must be easy to 
sing. The time must be smooth, and there must be 
a swing in the song which will make it almost sing 
itself. It must not be too low in pitch, for such 
a song will not be sung by the modern audience. The 
choir will do most of the singing of an invitation 
song, anyhow, and it must be one which they can sing 
with great earnestness and enthusiasm and for a 
long time. This quality of singableness will also go 
far to keep the song from becoming worn out before 
the meeting closes. 

(2) The invitation song must also be psycholog- 
ically correct. 

a. It is wrong if it constantly suggests a ''not." 
There is an old song that we have all sung for years 



234 New Testament Evangelism 

which illustrates this fault in the continual repetition 
of the word ''not'' in its chorus: 

**Why not now? Why not now? 
Why not come to Jesus now? 
Why not now? Why not now? 
Why not come to Jesus now?" 

The word ''not" is repeated six times in this 
chorus. While the music is good, the words are 
psychologically wrong. 

h. The invitation song must make a strong ema 
tional appeal. It must appeal to the will, to the 
great heroic emotions, for a decision. Note the 
strength of the old song, "I Am Resolved": 

**I am resolved no longer to linger, 

Charmed by the world's delight; 
Things that are higher, things that are nobler— 
These have allured my sight. 

*'I am resolved to go to the Savdour, 
Leaving my sin and strife; 
He is the true One, He is the just One, . 
He hath the words of life. 

"I am resolved to follow the Saviour, 
Faithful and true each day; 
Heed what He saith, do what He willeth — 
He is the living Way. 

"I am resolved to enter the kingdom, 
Leaving the paths of sin; 
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me. 
Still will I enter in. 

"I am resolved, and who will go with mef 

Come, friends, without delay; 

Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit, 

We'll walk the heavenly way. 



The Music of the Meeting 235 

Chorus. 

**I will hasten, hasten to Him, 
Hasten so glad and free; 
Jesus, greatest, highest, 
I will come to Thee." 

I have quoted all the words of this noble song, 
because they so splendidly illustrate the thought that 
we have been considering. The word ''resolve" is 
repeated five times. The whole song is strong with 
a great determination. It has a martial effect; it is 
a glorious call to decision. And how we need to 
use this type of song that we may induce men to turn 
to the Lord, that we may move the stubborn will. 

Frequently the song which appeals to the heroic 
may be followed by one which touches the chords of 
the heart by appealing to the memories of home, the 
Father's home. Such a song is the following: 

**IVe wandered far away from God; 
Now I 'm coming home ; 
The paths of sin too long I've trod; 
Lord, I'm coming home. 

**I've wasted my precious years, 
Now I'm coming home; 
I now repent with bitter tears; 
Lord, I'm coming h(Jme. 

**I need His cleansing blood, I know; 
Now I 'm coming home. 
Oh, wash me whiter than the snow; 
Lord, I'm coming home. 

Chorus. 

"Coming home, coming home. 
Never more to roam; 
Open wide Thine arms of love; 
Lord, I'm coming home." 



236 New Testament Evangelism 

This is a wonderful song, because it appeals to a 
universal thing in the human heart, the love of home. 
The word ''home" in the six verses (we gave but 
three) is repeated fifteen times. The whole story of 
one who had wandered away is here given, and is just 
the song to touch the heart of the man who knows 
himself a sinner, who has wandered from God's love 
and mercy. In the same manner the old song that 
all of us have sung all our lives, ''Just as I Am, 
without One Plea," appeals to the sentiment of grat- 
itude. It is always a good song because of this 
emotional appeal. I do not believe it is usually the 
best song to start with, because it should be sung 
only when a high state of emotion has been reached. 

(3) An invitation song should be a real invitation. 

I once knew an evangelist who continually used 
as an invitation song, "Shall We Gather at the 
River?" This is a wonderful, old devotional song, 
but there is in it absolutely no invitational value at 
all. In his meetings it was simply a song to make 
a big noise, for his invitations sounded like an auction 
sale anyway. The song gave the great crowd of 
personal workers a chance to go out into the audience 
and drag the people to the front. Now, a real invita- 
tion song will have a very definite invitational value. 
It will really invite men to come to the Lord. Com- 
pare, for instance, the song, ' ' Jesus Is Calling, ' ' with 
the one I have just mentioned : 

"Jesus is tenderly calling thee home — 
Calling to-day, calling to-day; 
Why from the sunshine of love wilt thou roam 
Farther and farther away? 



The Music of the Meeti/ng 237 

** Jesus is calling the weary to rest — 
Calling to-day, calling to-day; 
Bring Him thy burden and thou shalt be blest ; 
He will not turn thee away. 

** Jesus is calling, O come to Him now — 
Calling to-day, calling to-day ; 
Come with thy sins; at His feet lowly bow; 
Come, and no longer delay. 

*' Jesus is pleading; O list to His voice — 
Hear Him to-day, hear Him to-day; 
They who believe on His name shall rejoice; 
Quickly arise and obey. 

Chorus. 

*' Calling to-day! Calling to-day I 
Jesus is calling, is tenderly calling, to-day.'* 

This song is an invitation. The very words used 
are invitational words. The word "calling," repeated 
so frequently, and also the word "come," add to the 
song that something which we call invitational value. 
And it is that quality which we must have in our songs 
of invitation if we are to win men. 

(4) How and when to change an invitation song 
during an exhortation. 

This matter should always be decided by the evan- 
gelist himself. He is making the exhortation, and 
he is the one who will know what song will best fit 
the sermon and the conclusion. He should, therefore, 
know the numbers of the different invitation songs, 
so that he can call them at a moment's notice. The 
change of invitation must fit the exhortation. If the 
evangelist is making a crashing, thundering appeal, 
he wants a song which will embody the same spirit 
as the exhortation he is making. One could not very 



238 New Testament Evangelism 

well use ''Lord, I'm Coming Home," with that kind 
of an exhortation. Frequently, however, after the 
type of exhortation in which the preacher commands 
men to come into the kingdom, one can change to 
the pleading type of song. The exhortation itself, 
then, will also become a plea. The order of exhorta- 
tion will always be this one, the commanding invita- 
tion first, and followed with the more pleading type. 
You can not begin the invitation with a plea, and then 
follow with a command. The order is wrong, and 
such a procedure will not be effective. The deeper 
emotions must always be appealed to last. If this 
plan is followed, the invitation song may be changed 
many times in one evening. 

To me, young men, this study has been an inter- 
esting and profitable one. It is an interesting thing 
to be allowed to stand before those whose lives are 
so pregnant with promise of the wonderful work of 
the kingdom. May we hope that those of us who 
this day have considered this important part of our 
work, the music of a meeting, will ever be filled with 
a realization of the dignity of the musical ministry, 
and may we strive earnestly to teach those correct 
principles which will go far toward bringing to pass 
a stronger and better knowledge of the gospel set to 
sacred music. 



VI 

THE BIBLE SCHOOL AND NEW TESTAMENT 
EVANGELISM 

THE subject for our discussion to-day is assuredly 
one of the most important and interesting in our 
whole course of study together. Every student of the 
great art of soul-winning is well acquainted with the 
relationship existing between the Bible school and the 
gospel invitation. During the last few years a won- 
derfully rich and instructive literature has been 
created regarding the Bible school, and this literature 
is of inestimable value to the one who is to win boys 
and girls to the Lord. Some time ago one of our 
very best evangelists was accustomed to put into his 
telegraphic reports to the papers that there were so 
many additions, all of them adults or heads of fami- 
lies. Desiring to hold a campaign in one of our 
great churches in the Middle West, he wrote the 
pastor, who happened to be an old college mate. The 
pastor wrote back, saying: *'I would love to have you 
to hold me a meeting here, but I have decided never to 
employ one to do this work who can not convert 
children." This was a very much-needed rebuke, for 
the evangelist well knew that the great majority of 
all those who come to the Lord Jesus come while they 
are still children. He knew, also, that there were 
hundreds of children who were brought to Christ in 

239 



240 New Testament Evangelism 

his own meetings, but he considered that it strength- 
ened him in the eyes of his brethren if he could 
report large numbers of adult additions to the church. 
It is not a mark of dishonor, young men, if boys and 
girls attend your ministry. Rather it is the highest 
honor that one can have to realize that boys and girls 
are interested in your message, and that you have the 
power to bring them into the kingdom. No man can 
be truly a great evangelist unless he is able to touch 
the tender hearts of the flowers of earth, the little 
ones whom Jesus loved, and to whom He said *'be- 
longeth the kingdom of heaven." In a recent letter 
to your speaker, a friend, who is minister of a large 
church in the South, said: "I want you to come and 
hold us a campaign as soon as we can increase our 
Bible-school attendance, for I wish the Bible school 
to be large enough to be a feeder for the meeting." 
Wise indeed is this minister, who is himself a great 
soul-winner. He understands the requisites for suc- 
cess, for with a great Bible school he can have a real 
ingathering in the church of which he is minister. 

I. The Bible School as an Evangelistic Field. 

(1) It is a field psychologically prepared. 

Here are men and women and boys and girls who 
are coming every Lord's Day to the house set apart 
for the worship of the King; they are studying each 
week the things that pertain to His kingdom ; they 
are singing the songs which express praise and adora- 
tion of His great and holy name. They are, therefore, 
in the right attitude of heart and mind for the appeal 
to serve this very Lord about whom they have been 
studying. Then, also, the very surroundings are con- 



The Bible School 241 

ducive to bringing them into the church. They have 
made friends of those who are leading in the work. 
They know them, and realize how unselfish and whole- 
hearted is the service which they are performing for 
the welfare of all. And is it not an unselfish service? 
I know of nothing more beautiful than the labor of the 
teacher as she comes before the boys and girls each 
Lord's Day to bring them, in the simple words of 
childhood, the lessons that shall shape and mold their 
lives for the years to come. Or, again, the fine 
unselfishness of the busy man of affairs, who prepares 
all the week that he may bring some truth before a 
class of men on the Lord's Day. In this congenial 
atmosphere, warm with the love of Christ, an atmos- 
phere of expectancy created by those who, realizing 
that the end of all teaching is to bring their students 
to Christ, it is a natural thing for men and women 
and boys and girls to be born into the kingdom of 
the Lord. 

(2) The Bible school is the best possible evangelistic 
field, because its constituents are largely those who 
are in exactly the right age to be brought to Christ. 

Throughout the Scriptures it is taught that youth 
is the time to come to the Lord. The ringing words 
of the wise man of old bear to the young a wonderful 
admonition: "Remember also thy Creator in the days 
of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years 
draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure 
in them" (Eccl. 12:1). "Suffer the little children to 
come unto me," are the words of Jesus, and the Holy 
Spirit tells us that "whosoever will" may come. The 
age limit has been definitely established by the Spirit 
of God. Whenever a child comes to that place in his 

16 



242 New Testament Evcmgelism 

life that he wills to serve the Lord, then let him 
come. Youth, the glorious springtime when all our 
powers are blooming into manhood and womanhood, 
when all the future is rosy with promise, is the time 
to take the Creator into partnership with us. From 
infancy the Jewish boy was taught the things pertain- 
ing to the religion of his people. His education was 
essentially religious and rigidly Jewish. Heathen 
literature was absolutely despised, and even execrated, 
by the strictest of the Pharisees. A saying was cur- 
rent among them: *' Cursed be he that feeds swine, 
and cursed be he who teaches his son Greek litera- 
ture.''" At six or seven the boy was sent to the 
elementary school, in which he was taught out of the 
**book of the law.'' In this he received the rudiments 
of the law. At ten he was taught the law proper. 
By the thirteenth year he would leave the house of 
the book where the book of the law had been taught 
him, and begin his preparation for his life's work. 
When we consider how this early training throughout 
the centuries so profoundly influenced the character 
of the Jewish people, the solemn responsibility of 
teaching our boys and girls to-day the things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God is even more clearly 
emphasized. 

During the last few years great strides have been 
made in scientific studies into the age of conversion 
and the time of entrance into the church. A won- 
drous literature has sprung up almost within the last 
twenty-five years, in which all the phenomena of con- 
version have been very carefully considered. Many 
tests have been made; the questionnaire method has 



» "The Life and Letters of St. Paul," David Smith (p. 23). 



The Bible School 243 

been extensively used, and with very satisfying results. 
We have time but for the general conclusions that 
have been reached by these investigations. ''Conver- 
sion," in the words of Professor Starbuck, in his 
"Psychology of Religion," "does not occur at the same 
frequency at all periods of life. It belongs almost 
exclusively to the years between ten and twenty-five. 
The number of instances outside that range appear 
few and scattered. That is, conversion is a distinc- 
tively adolescent phenomenon. It is a singular fact, 
also, that within this period the conversions do not 
distribute themselves equally among the years. In 
the rough, we may say they begin to occur at seven 
or eight years, and increase in number gradually 
to ten or eleven, and then rapidly to sixteen; rapidly 
decline to twenty, and gradually fall away after that, 
and become rare after thirty. One may say that, if 
conversion has not occurred before twenty, the chances 
are small that it will ever be experienced. 

"But our reading is too rough. With adolescence, 
it appears that such awakenings are much more likely 
to take place at some years than at others, and that 
the preference of years varies greatly with sex. The 
event comes earlier in general among the females than 
among the males, most frequently at thirteen and 
sixteen. Among males it occurs most often at seven- 
teen and immediately before or after that year."^ 

The explanation of these facts is clear when we 
remember our own experiences in the lives of the 
boys and girls in our homes. I wonder sometimes, 
when we consider how many opportunities we have 
had to study the developing mental life of the lads 

» "The Psychology of Religion," Starbuck (Chap. III.). 



244 New Testament Evangelism 

and lassies in our homes, that we need the sober 
investigations and explanations of the scientist. Pro- 
fessor Starbuck, in the same work which we have 
already quoted, explains the facts of early conversion 
in the words: ''The years at which conversion really 
begins coincide fairly with the years at which Dr. 
Hancock in his experimental tests found a sudden 
increment in the child's ability to reason. After this 
the reasoning power develops rapidly, but intermit- 
tently, into the teens. Mr. J. W. Davids reports, as 
the result of experiments on the contents of children's 
minds, an increment in the mental life at about eleven. 
Although the same mental processes are not involved 
in reasoning and in religious awakenings. Dr. Han- 
cock's tests probably indicate a mental capacity which 
is a necessary condition for attaining spiritual insight. 
The point with which we are here concerned is that 
they, together with some other tests which we shall 
notice, help to mark off a somewhat prior limit of 
conversions. ' ' '' 

The facts of early conversion, and that youth is 
the time to seek the Ijord, are further explained by 
the great physiological changes which take place at 
the age of puberty. As we have already noted, this is 
the springtime of life, the time when all things are 
changing for the boy and girl; the time when there 
are visions, as the imagination is stirring hopes and 
dreams of the future. The allegation of some shallow- 
brained materialistic students of the psychology of 
religion, who know but little about the soul and have 
no religion, that conversion, since it is so closely 
connected with the sex instinct, is a form of sex 



"The Psychology of Religion," Starbuck (p. 35), 



The Bible School 245 

degeneration, is so absolutely absurd that it would 
be ridiculous even to consider it seriously for a 
moment. The conclusion of Professor Starbuck that 
while conversion and puberty "may be mutually con- 
ditioned," yet in reality they ''seem to supplement 
each other in time rather than to coincide," is per- 
haps the nearest and best explanation of the true 
facts. For the youth it is springtime, when, in the 
further fine words of Starbuck, ''the voice changes, 
the beard sprouts, the proportions of the head are 
altered, the volume of the heart increases, that of the 
arteries diminishes, the blood pressure is heightened, 
and central among the changes are those of the repro- 
ductive system, which makes the child into a man 
or woman. The amount of carbonic acid in the breath 
is greatly increased at this period, showing the incre- 
ment in the processes which tear down and build up 
the system." 

Since we are here considering some of the words 
of those who are interested, not only from the Chris- 
tian standpoint, but also from the purely scientific, 
let us note a beautiful passage from Dr. Snowden, in 
his noble volume on "The Psychology of Religion." 
Speaking of this wonder-time in the life of the boy 
and girl, he says: " Concommitantly with these physio- 
logical changes the development of the lower mental 
processes, such as the senses and memory, slows down, 
and may even come to a standstill, and the higher 
mental operations of discrimination and judgment and 
imagination leap forward. Sight passes into insight 
and consciousness into conscience. It is to be expected, 
then, that the still higher mental and spiritual powers 
would awaken in this general springtime, or be caught 



246 New Testament Evangelism 

on this rising flood, and be carried to high tide. The 
soul is a unit; the whole personality of the soul and 
body shares in a cominon life, and all its faculties 
spring out of one seed-plot and bloom together. ' ' ' 

The sober, discriminating scientist has thus, in all 
his researches, confirmed the statements of the holy 
Word, that if we refuse the Lord when we are in 
the beautiful years of youth, there will be but small 
probability of us ever accepting His invitation. These 
solemn facts should cause the soul-winner to more 
fully appreciate the value of the wonderful evan- 
gelistic field which is his in the Bible school, a field 
all white unto the harvest, and ready for the reaper. 
In all his work he will find none better, none where 
his message will be more readily and lovingly received. 

(3) The Bible school is one of the most effective 
agencies through which to reach the unchurched com- 
munity. 

It is an advertising agency which can not be 
equaled. Once get the boys and girls awakened about 
the campaign, and they will tell every one in the 
country about it, and not only tell them, but they 
will see to it that those whom they invite are there. 
They are very likely to take the statement of the 
Lord, **Go into the the highways and hedges, and 
constrain them to come in," in a very literal sense. 
I remember a very vivid illustration of this, which 
happened in my own ministry. The singer in the 
meeting had gone before a class of boys in the Bible 
school, and had organized them into a boys' chorus. A 
contest with the girls of about the same age was 
arranged, with the promise of a hike and picnic to 



^ "The Psychology of Religion," Snowden (p. 184). 



The Bible School 247 

the side that had the most singers at the end of the 
week. For a time the boys were ahead in the contest; 
then toward the end of the week they dropped slightly 
behind. They became desperate, for there was no 
disgrace in the world comparable to being defeated 
by a crowd of girls. One evening the time came 
for the service to begin, and there was not a boy in 
the corner usually occupied by the boys' chorus. 
Several songs had been sung, and the singer was won- 
dering what had become of the boys, when suddenly 
a great commotion was heard in the back of the 
house, and then, one by one, a great crowd of lads, 
looking very dusty and weary, came tumbling forward 
to their places. In a stem voice, with which he 
tried with difficulty to cover his mirth, the singer 
asked them: ''Where have you fellows been? Here 
we have been singing for half an hour." For a 
moment there was nothing but an astonished silence, 
then one little lad, in an awe-subdued voice, replied: 
"Well, Brother McCallum, we wanted to beat the 
girls, and we had all the fellers in this town but one, 
and he lives out in the country two miles. We went 
after him, but he did not want to come, so we licked 
him, and there he is." As he made the last state- 
ment, he pointed to one little chap who sat in the 
middle of the front row considerably roughed up, but 
apparently taking a new interest in his surroundings. 
Boys and girls will not only bring their young 
friends to the meeting and to the Bible school, but 
they will go after the older people as well. Turn 
loose a hundred or two children with a message for 
the meeting, and they will tell it all over the com- 
munity, and that which interests the children will 



248 New Testament Evangelism 

interest the grown people. Wherever you find the 
children going in any considerable numbers, you will 
find their fathers and mothers also. I have noted 
that on those nights when the children sang a special 
number there was always a larger audience than on 
other occasions. 

The Bible school is not only an efficient agency for 
advertising the meeting, but it is also one of the 
most powerful mediums through which to reach scores 
of unconverted men and women. The statement 
that *'a little child shall lead them" is demonstrated 
in every evangelistic meeting. The boys and girls 
come to the Bible school, and through the Bible school 
into the church. Perhaps their parents have not 
attended the church for years. The very fact, how- 
ever, that a son or daughter has become a Christian 
immediately interests them, and establishes a strong 
point of contact for the minister or the evangelist. 
The very fact that a father has come to the church 
to see his boy baptized has often meant the conversion 
of that father. I remember a striking incident in a 
large Middle West city. One evening a little freckle- 
faced boy came down the aisle and made the good 
confession of his faith in the Son of God. The min- 
ister asked him if his people were members of the 
church, and, receiving a negative answer, determined 
to investigate the case, and follow up the lead that 
the boy had given. The next day, therefore, he went 
to find the boy's parents. The father was at home, 
and received the visitor with great courtesy. When 
he found that the one calling was the minister, his 
face fairly shone with pleasure. **I intend to come 
into the church myself one of these days; and I want 



The Bible School 249 

to tell you, sir, that it was my boy's decision that 
has made me think," was one of his first statements. 
''And why do you not now?" the minister asked 
him. ''Well, the reason why I am not in the church 
is because of the business that I have, for I am the 
owner of the saloon immediately under this building," 
was the reply. "I am afraid that you would not 
want to receive me as long as I continue in this busi- 
ness. I intended to get out of it after awhile, how- 
ever, and then I will join my children in the church." 
This man eventually came and confessed his faith in 
Christ, and is to-day a fine member of that church 
because his children were brought through the Bible 
school into the church of God. 

II. The Bible-school Invitation. 

The Bible-school invitation may sometimes be given 
the first Lord's Day of a meeting. This will, of 
course, depend upon the amount of preparation made 
before the meeting begins. I have found in my own 
work that the children must be prepared, just as the 
grown people must be prepared, and that you can not 
have any considerable success unless this preparation 
is systematically and carefully made. I have several 
times used an invitation on the first Lord's Day with 
good effect, but it has always been in a place where 
a long and painstaking preparation on the part of the 
pastor of the church and the teachers and officers of 
the school has been made. Generally speaking, it 
should not be given before the second Lord's Day, 
and even then it must be carefully planned. 

(1) The preparation for the invitation. 

a. The preparation of the teachers. 



250 New Testament Evangelism 

In all teachers' conferences and meetings where 
the work of the Bible school is discussed, the great 
ideal of the Christian teacher should ever be kept 
before those who have been chosen for this wonderful 
work. That ideal is to lead the pupils to Christ and 
to build Christian character. If the teacher does not 
have this view of the work, she has not the right one, 
for this is the end of all teaching in the Bible school. 
We are not standing before the class with the mere 
idea of teaching facts for facts' sake, or even for 
the sake of general culture. The teacher looks deeper 
than all this — down into the very soul itself — and 
thinks of the man or the woman to be. She visualizes 
a completed and well-rounded Christian soul. She is 
a builder of men and women of the future. What a 
beautiful responsibility the Father has placed upon 
that one who is thus a builder of character. The 
teacher teaches not only by word, but by example. 
How important, then, that the life of that teacher be 
above reproach. I do not believe that any teacher 
who attends the modern dance, or in any other way 
does that which might even in the least manner influ- 
ence the life of some boy or girl in the wrong way, 
has any right at all before a class. One of the great 
preachers in our brotherhood in the South makes it 
very plain that no one shall be an officer or teacher 
in the Bible school or hold any official position in the 
church whatsoever who dances or plays cards. It is 
to be devoutly hoped that this reform will spread to 
all our churches. Those who are to build life in its 
highest and purest form should certainly be above 
reproach in their daily walk before God and man. 
A teacher, such as we have mentioned, whose heart 



The Bible School 251 

is in the work, who delights in seeing the development 
of the young life into Christian manhood and woman- 
hood, will find no difficulty in leading her pupils to 
the Man of Galilee. 

If a teacher does not believe in converting chil- 
dren, that teacher has no place in the work of the 
modern Bible school. Only that one who realizes in 
his life the ideal of a true teacher of the Word of 
life should be asked to stand before a class. The 
thought that to bring a boy or girl to Christ is the 
noblest thing a teacher can do should be held up 
constantly before those to whom are intrusted this 
delightful task. In the meeting itself one of the most 
fruitful means of impressing upon the teachers this 
end of all teaching is to have a conference of teachers 
and officers early in the week preceding the day for 
the invitation. In this conference urge the teachers 
to visit the parents and children during the week 
and talk with them frankly and seriously about the 
great importance and necessity of the child making 
the choice early in life. Of course this should apply 
only to the Juniors and those above that age. What 
a pleasant thing it is to make a real call on a boy 
or girl. And in the call let them know that you 
have come to see them. In such calls as these one 
will have the opportunity to discuss the matter frankly 
and iron out all the difficulties which may be in the 
way. The more of this work you can get the teachers 
to do, the more effective will be the invitation on the 
Lord's Day. In this meeting also it is a good plan to 
urge the teachers to get decisions from the class before 
the assembly for the invitation. If this is done, the 
children will be ready when the time comes. A caU 



252 New Testament Evangelism 

for a quiet-hour prayer-meeting about fifteen minutes 
before the time for the Bible school to convene should 
also be made at this first meeting of the teachers. 
This prayer-meeting, on the day when the invitation 
is to be given, is a wonderful place to get all the 
leaders in the school in just the right attitude for the 
work they are to do in the day. Many indeed have 
been the blessings that I have received from just 
such meetings as these when the plans for the day 
are recapitulated, so that there may be no misunder- 
ings, and then in prayer the strength and power for 
the work of the day were secured. 

6. The preparation of the parents. 

How crying is the need of preparation here! 
There are so many of the old Calvinistic misconcep- 
tions still haunting the minds of men and women 
concerning the attitude of children toward the king- 
dom of God that many times a greater preparation 
must be made with the parents than with any one 
else. There are many who do not believe that their 
children should think about the church until they 
have reached maturity. They must become great sin- 
ners, and then have a terrible wrench in the life 
which has been misnamed conversion. Many parents 
are so out of sympathy with their children that they 
have forgotten how a boy thinks and feels, and they 
expect of him the same manifestations of conversion 
as one would expect from some very wicked man. 
They have never understood, or perhaps even known, 
of the statement of Jesus concerning the developing 
spiritual life, when He said: ''First the blade, and 
then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear." 
They must be shown in a kind way that it is but the 



The Bible School 253 

natural thing for a child who is continually in a 
Christian atmosphere, and who is constantly hearing 
the gospel of Christ, to desire to come into the church. 
With the naturalness of this desire, they must be 
impressed with the grave responsibility which they 
have in the matter in keeping the boy or girl in the 
right path. I have sorrowed at the wrong attitude 
taken by those who are Christians about the relation 
of their children to the Lord. I have heard them 
say: ''I do not want to say anything to my boy or 
girl; I want them to decide for themselves. I have 
no responsibility in the matter." Ah! but they do 
have a responsibility. The Lord is going to hold 
them accountable, not only for the manner in which 
they have taught their children, but for the way they 
have led them by word and example in the Christian 
life. The Roman Catholics have long recognized this 
responsibility, and with permanent results. They 
have gone far ahead of Protestant fathers and mothers 
in the training of their children in the things pertain- 
ing to their faith. One can say with almost universal 
application that the training of the average Protestant 
boy or girl is left wholly to the Bible-school teacher 
or to the pastor of the church. In this day, when there 
is practically no Bible reading, even in Christian 
homes, and no prayer, save perhaps in private devo- 
tions, the child has small chance indeed to be taught 
the things of God. 

The most powerful ally to the cause of the little 
folks is to get the parents on their side in this matter 
of their decision for the Lord. When this is done, 
the battle is largely won. During the week before the 
extending of the Bible-school invitation frequent and 



254 New Testament Evangelism 

vigorous announcements should be made of the fact that 
the invitation is to be given. The duty of the parents 
to talk to their children about their decision should 
form a large part of these announcements. The fact 
that the majority of Christians have come to Christ 
before they have attained the age of twenty years, 
and that but few of them come after that time has 
been passed, should be stressed. During the week, 
also, the coming invitation should be mentioned in the 
prayers that are offered. By these means there will 
be created a serious attitude of mind on the question 
of the child's relation to the kingdom, which will 
result in the gathering of much precious fruit on the 
great day when the invitation is given. 

c. The preparation of the children. 

The announcements and prayers throughout the 
week will cause the little folks to begin thinking 
about deciding for Christ. Not alone in this way 
will their minds be turned toward these things, but 
the fact that their teachers, and perhaps their parents 
as well, have been talking with them, will tend to 
get them ready for the day of their decision. On 
that day the minister, the singer and the evangelist 
should visit all the classes and make a little talk in 
each one on the beauty of deciding for Christ in 
youth or on any other theme connected with the 
gospel. This will deepen the impression already made. 
It is well, also, to ask them directly as to how many 
of them are Christians and how many have not made 
the good confession. They are not sensitive about this 
matter as older people would be, and thus the remarks 
in the class can be made in a direct manner to the 
very boys and girls who need them most. 



The Bible School 255 

d. Further preparation for the invitation. 

The seating of the classes is an important matter, 
which is many times not handled properly. Classes 
of boys and girls in the Junior and Intermediate 
departments should never be seated in the galleries 
if the building has galleries. It is always harder to 
get people to come forward from a gallery, and it is 
a bad mistake to seat classes of young people far 
away from the platform. Again, they should never 
be seated behind classes of grown people. Those 
classes which have the largest number of prospects 
should always be seated directly in front of the evan- 
gelist. The closer to the front, the better it will be. 
During the talk by the evangelist, and the singing 
of the invitation song, the ushers should hold at the 
doors the people who will be coming in for the regular 
morning service, provided, of course, that the Bible 
school immediately precedes the morning service, as it 
generally does in our brotherhood. It is always 
psychologically wrong to seat a large crowd of people 
at this time. This is a matter which should be watched 
with a great deal of care. It is also a splendid 
plan to have the regular evangelistic chorus take its 
place on the platform. Many times there is no chorus 
at all, or, if the chorus platform is occupied, it is 
occupied by some Bible-school class, and frequently 
it is a class of old men, who do nothing during the 
invitation but look solemn. When little folks get 
interested in the invitation, they cease to sing, and 
it is therefore best to have the regular evangelistic 
chorus in its place, that it may lead in singing the 
invitation. It should also always be a rule that on 
the day when the Bible-school invitation is extended 



256 New Testament Evangelism 

the class hour should be cut short. Since the lesson 
period is given to exhortation for decision, and since 
exhortations are always shorter than teaching ser- 
mons or lessons, this plan will be found to fit in 
splendidly with the objects of the service, and noth- 
ing will be lost by the shortening of the period. The 
classes will then be called to the assembly earlier than 
usual. Before the invitation all reports and other 
such things, as announcements, etc., should be out of 
the way, so that the last impression made may be that 
of the invitation. It is psychologically wicked to dis- 
sipate with a lot of announcements the last impression 
of young people deciding for the Master. 

(2) Extending the invitation. 

Before the talk by the evangelist, there should be 
an evangelistic song and some prayers offered, either 
by the teachers or by the pastor of the church. This 
will quiet the children, who are always the least bit 
noisy after coming in from their classrooms to the 
place of assembly. After the song and prayer the 
talk should be given. There are some general prin- 
ciples which should govern a talk of this kind. It 
should be short — not more than ten or fifteen minutes. 
This is not the time to preach a long, involved sermon. 
It should also be couched in very simple language, 
so that all the children present may understand. 
There are many good evangelists who fail when talk- 
ing to children because they can not come down in 
their language to the level of the little folks. The talk 
should deal with some simple gospel truth. One great 
point carefully illustrated is generally sufficient. 

The exhortation during the invitation should be 
just as earnest and as vigorous as the one which 



The Bible School 257 

follows any sermon in the meeting. At times the 
evangelist is a little overcautious for fear he may. 
overpersuade the boys and girls. While there is a 
danger of this in personal work, there is not any 
danger in the exhortation. He should impress the 
matter as strongly as possible, for those before him 
are old enough to obey their Lord. If these plans 
are followed with care, all will be delighted by the 
response on the part of the tender, loving hearts of 
the boys and girls. 

How frequently should the Bible-school invitation 
be extended? There can be no hard-and-fast rule 
regarding this. The larger the school, the more often 
the invitation can be extended. In the larger school 
it can be given almost every Lord's Day of the meet- 
ing. In the smaller schools the frequency will be deter- 
mined by the material at hand. It should, of course, 
be the ambition to increase the attendance of the 
school, and consequently the amount of material to 
work upon as the meeting grows. 

(3) Some dangers in the Bible-school invitation. 

a. The danger of not making it serious enough. 

Among our people there is always a danger of 
this very thing, because of the fact that we preach 
so much on the great doctrinal themes of the Word 
of God; but this danger is accentuated when it comes 
to giving an invitation to children. If I would 
criticize the invitations that I have known, the criti- 
cism would be just this : that the seriousness of the whole 
decision is not impressed upon the minds of the boys 
and girls as it should be impressed. It is necessary 
to use such simple language, and such a simple theme, 

that we are also liable to make the whole coming so 
11 



258 New Testament Evangelism 

simple that we will descend into a commonplace pres- 
entation of the subject. We must impress upon the 
boys and girls that becoming a Christian means that 
they must be better children, that they must be more 
obedient and truthful, and that they must live a 
clean, godly life. The beauty of the good confession 
must also be taught, so that on the occasion when 
they stand before men witnessing for Him, they will 
realize it as one of the most wonderful experiences of 
their lives. They should also be taught the signif- 
icance of baptism as a great command of the Lord 
Jesus, and that when they thus obey Him, they do 
show forth His burial and resurrection. If all these 
things are carefully explained, and if those who have 
the extending of the invitation in charge go into the 
work realizing that they are dealing with immortal 
souls, they will make the great decision such an expe- 
rience in the child's life that it will be the focal 
point in all his subsequent thought and actions. 

h. The danger of having a great stampede. 

How often has this very thing occurred, much to 
the mortification and sorrow of all those who really 
love the work of Christ for the sake of the work itself, 
and for the sake of those to whom the invitation has 
been extended. Great throngs of children have come 
forward without knowing why it is that they come. 
Excited personal workers have hung onto them and 
have urged and pleaded until the child has been 
overpersuaded, and has gone to the front without the 
slightest idea why he has gone. Scourges of God, 
masquerading under the name of evangelists, have 
gone into meetings of this kind, and have used all 
kinds of unholy methods to get the children to the 



The Bible School 259 

front in order that they might be counted as converts. 
One illustration will be sufficient to lay bare the 
terrible meaning of what I say. A great meeting 
was being held in a Western church. The day came 
for the Bible-school invitation. One of the ladies, who 
was going along as a so-called personal worker, went 
before a class of newsboys. She asked them to become 
Christians, but they merely grinned and refused to 
move. After using every argument that she could 
think of, at last, in desperation, she said: "I dare you 
to go forward." Being lads of the street, and used 
to that kind of language, they immediately filed out 
and down to the front, laughing and pulling each 
other's hair, and with all the antics that boys of this 
kind, who were having a great and altogether glorious 
lark, would execute. Of course the members of the 
church were insulted and disgusted with the whole 
coarse performance. No pastor who loves the work 
should ever allow a thing like this to happen more 
than once, and if he knows of a place where it has 
happened before, he should never call the evangelist 
who does such things into the pulpit where he min- 
isters. It is well not to have any of the children in 
the invitation unless they have attained the age of 
Juniors. Care here will do much to prevent a 
stampede. 

It is a glorious thing to work with the souls of 
the young. The teacher and the evangelist are like 
potters dealing with the plastic clay. They can mold 
the young lives into beautiful form, or by negligence 
they can deform and ruin them forever. The little 
ones are precious in the Master's sight, for *'to such 
belongeth the kingdom of heaven. '* 



VII 

PERSONAL WORK IN THE MEETING 

I. The Necessity for Personal Work. 

IT is indeed a very important question which we 
have for our consideration to-day. Every one 
who has attempted to win souls is familiar with the 
fact that there is nothing more essential to the success 
of the campaign than faithful and consistent personal 
work. There has never been a truly great meeting 
in all the history of the church of God upon the 
earth without this element being present to a greater 
or less degree. Personally, I am convinced that the 
reason for this lies in the fact that this is God's 
method of reaching men, and that there can be no 
lasting success in doing the work of God unless we 
do it in God's way. The divine method has always 
been the method of truth incarnate in some mighty 
personality, truth which became a part, and the 
major part, too, of some great man, and then through 
his spirit was infused into the spirits of others. 
Abstract truth alone has had no power in influencing 
the lives of men for good. It has only been powerful 
when it has become concrete in the life of some 
mighty man. It is not only the most powerful, but 
it is likewise the most persuasive, manner to reach 
man, for the heart is much more easily touched if 

260 



Personal Work in the Meeting 261 

the truth can come to eye and ear through some 
warm, strong personality. 

The illustrations of this profound method compre- 
hend the whole life, not only of the Christian religion 
itself, but that of the Jews also. When God would 
liberate Israel from the stinging lash of her proud 
and brutal taskmasters, He chose a man, a mighty 
man of faith and love, and into his heart infused the 
spirit of leadership, amidst the wastes of the desert 
drilled him in obedience, and then sent him forth to 
be the leader of His people. God reached Israel through 
Moses, a man. In the prophets of God, those intrepid 
preachers of antiquity, the Father once more illustrates 
the irresistibleness of His method. The tender-hearted 
Jeremiah, the bold and fearless Ezekiel, the far- 
visioned Isaiah and all the others who came like flam- 
ing firebrands to a wicked and untoward generation 
were incarnations of the glorious truths which Jehovah 
would bring to the hearts of His sinning children. 
And do you not also remember when a great king 
sinned, that again the forcefulness of this method was 
emphasized? David, the king, the man after God's 
own heart, the man of blood and iron, the leader and 
lord — David had sinned. And how grievous was his 
sin — adultery and murder! Then comes God's mes- 
senger. How adroitly told is the story of the two men 
in one city, the one rich, and the other poor, and of 
the selfishness of the rich man who spared of his 
own flocks and herds, and took from the poor man his 
one little ewe lamb which he had nourished up with 
him until it was unto him as a daughter. As he 
tells the story we can feel the hot anger of the king 
rising until he cries: **The man that hath done this 



262 New Testament Evangelism 

thing shall surely die, and he shall restore the lamb 
fourfold because he hath done this thing, and because 
he had no pity." Then came the answer of the 
man of God: *'Thou art the man." God brought His 
message to His sinning servant through Nathan, a 
man. When a great city had become so wicked that 
it was near to being eaten up by its iniquity, God 
sent a man to bring it to contrition of heart. Jonah, 
the one selected, did not want to go, because he had 
long known of all the cruelties practiced by the 
barbarous race who inhabited that city. It was only 
after some very unusual experiences that he was 
brought face to face with his duty. But its necessity 
was brought to him, and he preached in the streets 
of Nineveh until men cried aloud for salvation. The 
divine principle reaches its sublimest illustration in 
the incarnation of God in the person of Christ Jesus. 
That He might present Himself in a language intel- 
ligible to men, God assumed the form of man, was 
manifest in flesh, suffered as man suffers, was tempted 
as man is tempted, that He might bring the message 
of redeeming love to those who all their lifetime had 
been subject to the bondage of sin. When Jesus 
began his work, He employed the divine method of 
reaching men. He did not come in pomp and display, 
but in the quiet places He called men to Him, at first 
only a few of them — Peter, and Andrew his brother, 
James and John. He called Philip, and Philip in 
turn went to his brother and brought him to see the 
Messiah. Thus the little fraternity grew, one by one. 
How humble the beginning, and yet how far-flung 
the plan, how infinite the destiny. One of that day, 
to have seen the little college of apostles following the 



Personal Work in the Meetvng 263 

meek and lowly Nazarene, would have come to the 
conclusion that the work which this One wanted to 
do was doomed to failure, that there was no possibility 
of its being able to come to a successful fruition. How 
mysterious are the ways of God. He needs not the 
rolling voice of the thunder, nor the crash of the 
storm. Rather does He come in the quiet forces. 
And are not the quiet ways after all the most power- 
ful? The light that comes over the eastern hills in 
the morning steals so quietly upon the resting earth 
that its advent would scarce wake the sleeping babe, 
and yet it is the most powerful force in the world. 
Suppose it should not come thus to-morrow morning. 
What consternation among animals and men! In 
time all the work of man would stop, all his plans 
would fail, and death and chaos would come upon 
everything. God works in the small beginnings; He 
uses the weak that He might put to shame the 
strong, the foolish that He might bring to naught the 
conclusions of the wise. 

The divine method of reaching men — ^this method 
of truth incarnate in personality, the face-to-face 
method — ^was used by the evangelists and apostles of 
the Lord during those first great days of the church. 
We love to think of Peter, the preacher on Pentecost, 
the one to whom had been given the keys, that before 
the conscience-stricken multitude of those who had cru- 
cified Christ he might unlock the doors of the eternal 
kingdom — we love to think of him as the wielder of 
the mighty two-edged sword of the Spirit, the preacher 
whose words came like the rushing of a mighty tor- 
rent sweeping the thousands before them. But there 
is another side of this man which we must see and 



264 New Testament Evangelism 

remember. See him at the household of Cornelius, 
when he preaches to one family and its friends, when 
he individualizes the glorious message, when he brings 
it in a personal way to the hearts of those assembled.. 
He was one of the world s greatest personal workers. 
And how splendidly Philip the evangelist illustrates 
this principle. He who could stir the multitudes in 
the northland until great numbers believed his preach- 
ing concerning "the good tidings of the kingdom of 
God and the name of Jesus Christ," could also go to 
the one man who, in the solitude of the Jerusalem- 
Gaza highway, was reading the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures concerning the coming of Christ, and, not under- 
standing them, was in need of guidance. The conver- 
sion of the officer of Queen Candace is one of the 
most complete and clear illustrations of New Testa- 
ment personal work. And Paul — ^was he not also a 
personal worker of the greatest power? It has always 
seemed to me that he reached the very heights of 
persuasion and inspiration when he faced the crowd 
of sneering philosophers on Mars' Hill. There, amidst 
all the surroundings of culture, in the city which 
had everywhere erected altars to all the gods they 
knew, and then, in sheer desperation lest they might 
have overlooked one, they had builded one to ''an 
unknown God, "Paul preached the God of all the earth. 
Though his case was laughed out of court, and he 
accomplished little, yet it was a thing not to be con- 
sidered lightly that he had proclaimed the truth in 
Athens. But how numerous are the times when he 
went to men and women as individuals and preached 
Christ. On the bank of the river, Lydia and her 
friends are brought to know Him whom to know 



Personal Work in the Meeting 265 

aright is life eternal ; in the darkness and silence of the 
midnight hour the Philippian jailor hears the message, 
and, repenting, is baptized, he and all his household. 
Paul was the master personal worker of the early 
church. No matter where he was, no matter how 
uncomfortable were his suroundings, he was always 
preaching Christ to any who would hear. One of the 
most tender scenes, and one the details of which must 
largely be imagined, is that one in the darkness 
and dampness of his first imprisonment in Rome 
when he converts the slave of his friend and brother 
Philemon. Even to the humble runaway slave he 
tells the story of Christ. Oh that we to-day could 
be on fire with the same unflagging zeal which was 
the very life of the great apostle! We could win the 
world in the present generation. 

It is patent to every man who has really under- 
stood it, who has been filled with the spirit of it, 
that the gospel as proclaimed by the churches of 
Christ in our day is the gospel which must eventually 
win the world. There is, in all Christendom, no plea 
like it. How eagerly the multitudes receive it when 
it is preached clearly and forcibly by a man of clean 
hands and pure heart. And yet we have in the past 
made two very costly mistakes in regard to the personal 
presentation of that plea. The first one was the absolute 
refusal on the part of the members of the average 
congregation of Christians only to do any definite 
personal work. In the early days of our people 
great was the insistence that each man decide the 
question of his acceptance or rejection of the gospel 
invitation, and decide it himself without assistance 
from any one. In the preaching of the day very little 



266 New Testament Evangelism 

attention was given by the majority of our preachers 
to the art of exhortation. Later on this neglect was 
not so manifest, as men began to see the importance 
of not only preaching the truth, but of exhorting men 
to accept it. Hence great exhorters were developed, 
but still the matter of preparation on the part of the 
membership itself for any personal effort was never 
even thought of. Gradually, however, there came 
about a change in regard to this important matter, 
and the pendulum swung, as it usually does, too far 
the other way, until in recent years we have in some 
meetings a veritable prostitution of the beautiful 
work in the drag-and-haul methods of some of our 
sensational evangelistic campaigns. Great crowds of 
zealous, but untactful and untrained, personal workers 
have been sent out into the audiences to pull men and 
women, and even little children, to the front, whether 
they knew what they were doing or not. Thus we 
have gone to the extremes in both directions. As a 
rule, when there are two such extremes, the truth gen- 
erally lies about halfway between the two. This is 
especially true of personal work. The middle ground 
is the right position. That we need more real per- 
sonal work no one will deny, and it is for that very 
kind of service that we are here pleading, but we 
also need a more efficient preparation of those who 
are to present the divine message in a personal way 
to the lives of men. In a word, our people need to 
learn how to do personal work, and when we train 
them, as we must train them, the majority of prob- 
lems which have bothered us in regard to this matter 
will be solved. The trained, godly personal worker is 
always the most efficient. 



Personal Work in the Meeting 267 

II. Some Qualifications Which the Personal 
Worker Should Possess. 

1. He Must Possess Tact. 

How necessary this is for the man who is to be a 
personal worker. He must know how to say the right 
thing at the right time. He must know when to let the 
other fellow talk. Tact is a very hard thing to shut up 
in the bounds of a verbal definition. It is something 
atmospheric and illusive. But it is a definite quality, 
and the absence of it has spoiled many an otherwise 
good attempt to bring a man to Christ. Tact cer- 
tainly includes within its meaning a large amount 
of good, hard common sense. Many have said the 
wrong thing when they went out to talk to a prospect 
or have done the wrong thing. 

2. The New Testament Personal Worker Must 
Possess Patience. 

He must not become weary and disgusted if at 
first he apparently makes no progress. He must, if 
necessary, be willing to make several attempts before 
he gives up any one as impossible. I have known 
many Christians who became very enthusiastic at the 
thought of personal work, and would enlist whole- 
heartedly in the service, and go out with all the ear- 
nestness to be imagined. As long as they were 
successful in every call they were delighted, but when 
the work became hard and there was but little done 
and but few results to show for their work, they 
would lose the enthusiasm of the initial impulse, and 
their interest would flag. Like the five foolish virgins, 
they took no oil of patience with them, and their 
lights soon went out. The personal worker must realize 



268 New Testament Evangelism 

(and, if he does not, he will soon find it out by 
experience) that it will not all be smooth sailing. 
There will be days when he will find every one at 
home, and when all will receive his message gladly, 
and many of them will come and accept it. Perhaps 
the very next day he will find but few at home, and 
those who are there are lukewarm and receive him 
without any show of interest. He will come home 
from the day's work with a feeling of disappointment 
and with spirits low. This is the time when he needs 
to *^ screw his courage to the sticking-point,'' and get 
ready to go out again. Eemember that the apostle 
Paul was not always successful, and that even Jesus 
was turned down by those who were His own. 

3. The New Testament Personal Worker Must 
Have a Willingness to Work. 

It should be made clear to those who are thinking 
about doing this form of service that it means long 
hours of hard work. Nothing good was ever done in 
this life without work, and certainly this applies to 
the matter of leading men to Christ. I have often 
thought 'that the thing wrong with the great majority 
of Christians to-day is spiritual laziness. If we could 
only devise some plan whereby we could get the 
whole church to do personal work, we would soon win 
the whole world to Christ. One of the greatest 
dangers which menace us as a people to-day, and 
especially in some sections, is the danger of becoming 
large, fat and lazy. When we were a small, strug- 
gling people, and had to fight for our very existence, 
we were ever ready to put our shoulders to the wheel 
and bend every energy for the progress of the cause. 
We need spiritual dynamite to-day to get our people 



Personal Work in the Meeting 269 

to work. It takes labor to save men ; there is no place 
in the church for a man who is afraid of toil. 

4. The Personal Worker Must Have a Zeal for 
Souls. 

It is a thing for which we can be profoundly 
thankful that in every church of Christ there are 
always those who do love the souls of men, and want 
to see them brought to Christ. What would the 
church be without these people? And certainly, all 
things being equal, these are the ones to go out after 
men, for, if the heart is in the work, that work wiU 
be done with ease and dispatch. The minister of the 
church and the evangelist can do much in stimulating 
the desire of the membership for the souls of men by 
preaching on themes dealing with this matter. The 
personal worker must be one who has a deep sense 
of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, who believes firmly 
that men who die in their sins are lost, and that 
there can be no salvation in heaven or in earth save 
in the name of Jesus Christ. Great zeal is ever fed 
by great convictions. If the Christian who would do 
personal work is. actuated by burning convictions, he 
will find that his supply of zeal and enthusiasm for 
the souls of men will be like a consuming fire, never 
quenched by day or by night. 

5. The New Testament Personal Worker Must Have 
Real Religion. 

Nothing can take the place of genuine goodness. 
It has ever been a poor policy to send some man, who 
has been but recently converted after having lived a 
notoriously wicked life, after other men. The message 
will always have more weight when it is backed up 
by a life that has long been exemplary. If there is 



270 New Testament Evangelism 

ever the haunting specter of an evil past, no matter 
what may be the present pretensions of goodness, the 
plea will never have the same power as when delivered 
by a good man, one who has long been good. There 
is nothing so cheap and disgusting as to send out 
some emotional person, who is a weak and stumbling 
Christian, to bring in some strong man, who perhaps 
in his moral life has been far better than the one 
who is trying to persuade him to become a Christian. 
Often those who have been irregular in the perform- 
ance of the Christian duties are of the never-to-be- 
depended-upon type, anyway, and under the emotional 
spell of a great soul-winning campaign they make 
resolutions which are promptly forgotten after the 
meeting is over. These are the kind who get religion 
at every meeting, and lose it as soon as the meeting 
ends. They are not the folks to do any large amount 
of personal work. The strongest, finest men and 
women of the church are the ones who should be 
interested in saving men from sin and bringing them 
to the knowledge of the glorious Saviour. 

III. The Training of the Personal Worker. 

1. Some Things Which He Should Know. 

There are a great many things that he may or 
may not know, but there are some that he must know 
if he is to win men for Christ. He should know some- 
thing about the evidences of the religion of Christ. 
He will find many who are confused and skeptical, 
and who need the very explanations which will be 
possible to him if he has at least a rudimentary train- 
ing in simple apologetics. This type of training will 
not only profoundly strengthen his own faith, but it 



Personal Work in the Meeting 271 

will make it possible for him to bring converts into 
the kingdom who have a real and abiding belief in 
the Lord. As we have already noted, the stronger 
the faith the more consuming will be the zeal. Not 
only must the soul-winner believe in Christ, but he 
must also be able to give a reason for the hope which 
is within him. He must likewise know the plan of 
salvation. He must be able to turn quickly to all the 
passages of Scripture which tell a man what to do 
to be saved from his sins. To tell others how to obey 
Christ, he must himself have clearly in mind the dis- 
tinction between the Old and the New Testaments. 
He must not say as I heard a doctor of divinity 
say recently. To the question, "What must we do to 
become Christians?" asked by a crowd of young peo- 
ple, he answered: ''Read carefully the Book of Levit- 
icus.'' If they had read the Book of Leviticus, and 
complied with the conditions therein contained, they 
would have become Jews, every last one of them. 
It will be an unpardonable error to send men out 
to win other men if they know nothing at all about 
the steps in salvation. The personal worker must 
know the Scriptures on the subject of baptism, so 
that he can clear up the confusion which exists in 
the minds of the thousands of poor, misguided souls 
concerning this beautiful and impressive ordinance of 
Christ. The New Testament personal worker must 
know something also about the history of the great 
churches, at least about the general movements in 
the history of the church. This will not be a hard 
matter to learn, and it will be a valuable aid in the 
work which he desires to do. Following this there 
must be certainly a thorough knowledge of the posi- 



272 New Testament Evangelism 

tions of the Restoration movement. The plea for the 
unity of the people of God upon the basis of the 
revelation of God in Jesus Christ should be so instilled 
into the heart of the personal worker that it will 
become a part of him. A real and vital knowledge of 
this great position will fire the enthusiasm of the one 
who is to win others as nothing else can. The 
personal worker must also have some training in 
practical psychology or methods of approach in per- 
sonal work. Many there are who are uninterested in 
leading a soul to Christ because they do not know 
how to do the work. They do not know how to 
approach a man, nor what to say when they do 
approach him. They are free and easy when it comes 
to a political discussion, but they shut up like a clam 
when it comes to the matter of talking about Christ. 
These things the personal worker must know, if he is 
to be a real and effective soul-winner. 

2. A Personal Workers' Class for the Training of 
Personal Workers. 

(1) The necessity for such a class. 

We have long realized the necessity for training 
workers for other phases of the work of the church. 
We have learned by sad experience that we can not 
have a Bible school without trained teachers, and our 
teacher-training classes have been the beneficent result 
of our experience. If we must train our teachers that 
they may more effectively teach our boys and girls, 
why not also train those who are to go out, not only 
to boys and girls, but to men and women, and in all 
conditions of life, to bring them to the foot of Cal- 
vary's cross? There should be a class of personal 
workers in every church, and this class should be 



Personal Work in the Meeting 273 

meeting with the same regularity that a Bible-school 
class meets. If it is possible, the minister of the 
church should be the teacher of this class, and it 
should be made so interesting and inspirational that 
it will be the desire of every one in the church to be 
a member of it. As a rule, the minister is the best 
one for this work, because he has had the broad 
training in all the lines of study that should be pre- 
sented, backed up by the personal experience in 
working out the plans for saving men. The old fisher- 
man is the best one to tell the young angler how to 
catch fish. 

(2) A suggested course of study for the personal 
workers' class. 

a. For a general text-book, *' Training for Personal 
Evangelism," by Traverce Harrison. 

This is a very fine and comprehensive outline 
work, and will be found suitable for the class which 
we have here suggested. It is susceptible of elabora- 
tion at the discretion of the teacher. 

h. For further supplementary reading and study, 
copies of the following books could be secured and 
used by the class: 

(a) For simple apologetics — *'The Divine Demon- 
stration," by Everest. 

(&) For simple church history — *'The Eight Lead- 
ing Churches," by Berry. 

(c) For Eestoration history — ''The Kestoration 
Handbook," by Kershner. 

(d) For psychology of religion — ''The Psychology 
of Religion," by Snowden. 

It would be a fine thing for a class of this nature 
to meet at the Bible-school hour. In this day, when 

18 



274 New Testament Evangelism 

there are so many calls upon the time of men, and 
when there is, as a rule, something at the church 
every evening anyway, it will often be found a diffi- 
cult matter to have such a class as we are here pro- 
posing to meet at any other than the Bible-school 
hour. I remember one class in a church in which 
we had conducted an evangelistic campaign. It was 
formed of those who had made the decision to enter 
Christian service. There were twenty of the young 
people, and their work was such that it would be 
some time before they could enter college to make 
their preparation. They formed a class in '* Personal 
Evangelism." It would be a mistake, and a serious 
one, to have a class of this kind to meet only at 
certain seasons of the year. It is my own opinion 
that it should be a regular thing in the church, with 
a stated hour for meeting. 

(3) Some benefits which would come from such a 
class. 

a. In the first place, the formation of a class in 
personal evangelism would dignify the work of win- 
ning men in the church itself. The very fact that 
a group of people were constantly studying a course 
of this kind would keep personal evangelism before 
the members of the church. A great ideal would be 
continually held up before the minds of the people. 
The brethren would realize that personal evanglism 
was not a hit-and-miss proposition to be engaged in 
by those who were emotionally constituted alone, but 
that it was the business of the whole church, and such 
important business that its very dignity had called 
forth an organization which, in a scientific way, was 
studying the **How'' of catching men for Christ. 



Personal Work in the Meeting 275 

h. A class of this order would also be a great place 
in which to strengthen the faith of those who attend 
it. It is evident to all these days that what the 
church of God really needs more than anything else 
is more faith in the Son of God. "We need to know 
the Bible, not merely the theory of it, for it seems 
to any thinking man that we have overemphasized 
the theory of the Scriptures, but also the contents of 
it, the great teachings of it. There are many in the 
Bible schools these days who can glibly recite the 
books of the Bible and tell who wrote the majority 
of them and the year in which they were written, 
but are ignorant of the great doctrines of God's 
revelation to men. A course in ''Training for Per- 
sonal Evangelism" will make people know why we 
are what we are, for, unless they know it themselves, 
they can not tell others about it. 

c. A class in personal evangelism will also be a 
great recruiting-center for the ministry and the mis- 
sion fields. The cry of the whole church to-day is for 
a well-trained, godly leadership. We are finding that 
it is not so difficult to get large sums of money 
dedicated to the service of God, but the dedication 
of life is a wholly different matter. A class, there- 
fore, where young men and women are trained in 
the art of winning men, where they learn of the 
Bible and the facts of the history of the church in 
a scientific manner, will be a mighty force in stim- 
ulating the desire for a larger and more definite 
service. It is a place where leadership is trained, 
even though the training, as compared with that given 
in the institutions of learning dedicated to that pur- 
pose, is but rudimentary. Every such class wiU be a 



276 New Testament Evangelism 

constant reminder of the necessity for Christian min- 
isters and teachers. To this class the agents of our 
colleges and universities will go first of all, for they 
will expect to find material here which has been at 
least partially prepared for the life-work of a Chris- 
tian servant. Such a training as this will also aid 
the young man who shall go to college, for it will 
make it possible for him to preach much sooner than 
if he were to go without any training at all. In 
this way he will be able not only to be of definite 
service to the churches near the college, but he will 
be able to help himself financially as well as spirit- 
ually, in that he will be a more experienced minister 
of Christ. 

d. A class in personal evangelism would also assist 
in solving the problem of the rural church. With the 
improvement of all the roads, with the tremendous 
increase of automobile-owning people, the city churches 
have grown from those who live in the country dis- 
tricts. Yet, while this is true, there are always many 
people who can not, or at least do not, come to the city 
to worship, and these same people may be reached if 
there is some one to go out to them. Then, also, 
there are many small towns and villages where there 
is no gospel preaching on the Lord's Day, and these 
places might be revived now and then by students 
from just such a class as we have been discussing. 
The church which will thus cast her bread upon the 
waters will find it returning after many days, for 
when the people in the contiguous territory come into 
the city to send the children to school, or to retire 
for life, they will seek the church which thought 
enough of them in the years before to send them 



Personal Work in the Meeting 277 

teachers of the gospel message. It seems to me, in 
the light of all these facts, that there can be no more 
important class in all the life of the church, and it 
is a matter which causes a great deal of wonderment 
to me that we have not thought of it long before. 

"What would be the relationship of such a class to 
a teacher-training class?" was a question which was 
asked when this lecture was in preparation. Two 
such classes could exist in any church of considerable 
size, or even in the smaller churches. While the 
material is somewhat the same, yet my own concep- 
tion of the personal evangelism class is that it should 
be more comprehensive and thorough — a graduate 
course, as it were, to the teacher-training course. It 
would be just what its name implies, a class for the 
training of personal workers, rather than simply a 
teacher of the Scriptures to the boys and girls. There 
is no reason why those who are in the teacher-training 
class might not also enroll in the class in ** Training 
for Personal Evangelism." If the course is given 
on a mid-week evening, the teachers and officers of 
the Bible school can take it. Certainly it would be a 
very important thing for them, for, if any one should 
know how to win people to the Lord Jesus, surely 
it is that one who has a responsible position in the 
Bible school. 

IV. Who Should Do Personal Work in a Meeting? 

This seems to be a strange question, after we have 
been at considerable length discussing the training 
of the personal worker. We have brought it up pur- 
posely, however, because we would not have you think 
that, for a moment, we would limit this beautiful 



278 New Testament Evangelism 

office to a select few who have had a training in this 
special line. Certainly, all those who have the desire for 
souls, and who possess the qualifications of the personal 
worker, even though in but a limited degree, should do 
personal work. It is better, however, to have fewer 
personal workers, if they are the right kind, than a 
great mob of zealous, but untactful and untaught, souls, 
who will go about in a promiscuous manner, doing little 
but driving people away. As we insist on prepared 
teachers of the Word of life, so also is it just as 
important that we have effective personal workers. 

(1) The minister of the local church should do 
personal work. 

There can be no better or more efficient personal 
worker in a meeting than the local minister. He has 
perhaps been in the community for years. He has 
gone into the homes in times of sorrow and affliction. 
He has ministered to the sick and the aged. He 
has spoken the words of comfort and consolation 
in that dread hour when the death angel has entered 
the home and taken away a loved one. He has 
preached the quiet message as that loved one was 
borne to the silent city of the dead. He has been 
again in the home when the bright-eyed girl is given 
in marriage to the stalwart boy from another home. 
He has mixed with men in their daily affairs. He 
has helped them to solve their problems. If he is a 
real shepherd of the flock, he has^ bound the hearts 
of men to himself in a thousand ways. Who, then, 
would be better able to speak the pleading word, the 
word that will lead them out of the sordidness of 
their s^ns and make them know Jesus Christ, whom to 
know aright is life eternal? 



Personal Work in the Meeting 279 

I can not refrain here from the mention of a 
certain pastor friend of mine in a great Middle 
Western church of Christ. I think he was the greatest 
evangelistic pastor that I have ever known. A man 
of deep and burning convictions, he would not for a 
moment compromise the truth of God. Fearless in 
his fiery denunciations of sin and firm and unbending 
in his conceptions of the right, he nevertheless held 
the respect and love of all in the community, even 
though they did not belong to the church to which 
he ministered. Though afiflicted so that he could not 
walk, save with a crutch and cane, yet there was no 
weather cold enough, no night dark and stormy 
enough, to keep him away from the home into which 
sorrow had come, when from that home there came 
the call for help and guidance. One of the under- 
takers of the town, in an admiring statement, said 
that when at times the weather was inclement and 
some of the other ministers of the town would be 
indisposed, my pastor friend could always be relied 
upon, even though at times the sufferings resulting 
from his afiSiction were so intense that he was not 
really able to go at all. In a pastorate of eleven 
years, he had buried more than twelve hundred 
people. When the time came that our evangelistic 
party was honored with a call from this minister, 
was it any wonder that we found the whole commu- 
nity ready to receive our message? I have seen my 
friend stand before the audience during the singing 
of the invitation hymn, and simply make a beckoning 
motion with his hands, and men and women would 
come down the aisles by the score. He had such a 
wonderful hold on the hearts of the people that none 



280 New Testament Evangelism 

could influence them for good like the faithful min- 
ister whom they knew and loved. 

In reality, the minister should be the director of 
the personal work for the whole meeting, because of 
the fact that he knows, or should know, the people 
who are to be reached. He should spend the major 
portion of his time in the work of interesting men in 
the campaign and in saying the words which will 
be effectual in winning them. One of the best places 
for the minister to reach many, and especially those 
who are most easily influenced, is at the door of the 
building in which the meeting is held. He can stand 
there both before and after the service. Before the 
service begins he can secure the names and addresses 
of people with whom he is unacquainted, and find out 
about their church relationships. He will find this 
information of value also, in that he can tell it to 
the evangelist before the sermon begins. For illustra- 
tion, suppose there is a family who have recently 
moved to the city. They have been members of the 
church in some other place. The minister meets them 
as they come into the building, and finds out about 
them. He can say a pleasant word and invite them 
that very night to place their membership with the 
local congregation. Then, when he goes to the plat- 
form, he can tell the evangelist of the presence of 
those people and urge upon him to emphasize the 
invitation for those who have been members in other 
places to place their membership that night with the 
congregation. In this manner he can help to direct 
the fire of the preacher. The same plan can, of 
course, be used also with those who have never been 
Christians at all. At the close of the service it can 



Personal Work in the Meeting 281 

be followed with fine results. I remember a great 
pastor friend out in the State of Oklahoma, who fol- 
lowed this plan every night during a long meeting in 
which I had the pleasure of being the evangelist. 
No one escaped him. He would ask every one with 
whom he was not acquainted about their names and 
addresses, and whether or not they were members 
of any church. Unobserved by the passersby were 
two young ladies of the congregation, who were 
busily engaged writing down the replies to the ques- 
tions which the pastor was asking. When all the 
audience was gone, the minister had some fine infor- 
mation about the best possible prospective members 
because of the fact that they had attended the ser- 
vices, and were, therefore, ready to be called upon in 
the interest of their decisions for Christ and His 
church. Every night he would get from fifteen to 
twenty names and addresses, and soon he would visit 
these people. This is a plan that can not fail, and 
it will secure just the information which the soul- 
winner needs, for he needs new information every day, 
and of the right kind. 

The local minister is one of the few people who 
can do personal work during the singing of the invita- 
tion hymn. People realize that the converting of men 
is his business, and he can therefore approach men 
when others trying it would probably not only fail, 
but would also drive away the very man whom they 
wanted to save. Generally speaking, the minister will 
be more careful whom he approaches than other mem- 
bers of the church. 

(2) The evangelistic singer should do personal work 
in the meeting. 



282 New Testament Evangelism 

It is not enough that a man should be a good 
singer of the gospel message if he is to be the kind 
of leader and assistant who will do the most for the 
extension of the kingdom of God. That evangelistic 
singer who can lead men to Christ, as well as direct 
a great chorus and sing beautiful solos, will find that 
he is always in demand among the churches. The 
man of artistic temperament, and the real musician 
will have this temperament, will find that he needs 
to associate with the people, to know their sufferings 
and joys, to become acquainted with their problems; 
in short, to be humanized by constant contact with 
them. The artist is usually very limited in the circle 
of his acquaintances and friends. He needs the very 
thing that personal work will give him. He will 
find that such work will put a warmth and beauty 
in his singing that would not otherwise be there. He 
will become not merely an artist, whose sole desire is 
to perform the musical compositions perfectly, but he 
will be a singer to the hearts of men, that he may 
win them from the sordidness and wickedness of their 
lives. He should spend a part of every day in visit- 
ing the homes of those who are to be reached. This 
work will also help to bind these people unto him, and 
his leadership will consequently be far more efficient 
than otherwise. 

(3) The evangelist should do personal work. 

It will perhaps be thought strange that any time 
should be given to arguing this proposition, for surely 
its truth will be taken by universal consent. There 
are many, however, who do not believe that the evan- 
gelist should be a personal worker, as is evidenced by 
the fact that the pastor of the church many times 



Personal Work in the Meeting 283 

has no list of prospects ready, and has made no plans 
at all for the evangelist to meet the people who should 
be brought to the Lord. That the evangelist should 
do some personal work each day is enforced from the 
following considerations : 

a. He must do it in order to keep the personal 
touch. If he is studiously inclined, he will be in 
danger of loving his books more than the people to 
whom he ministers. There are many '' bookish "- 
preachers, fine, consecrated men, whose only failing is 
that they know more about books than they do about 
men. There is no human touch in their preaching. 
If the evangelist will go out each day in the week 
(with the exception of Lord's Day) and visit the 
homes of the people who are to hear him preach, he 
will keep himself human; he will know them and how 
to reach them with the message of love and hope and 
consolation. Beecher gives the very apt illustration 
of the surgeon who knows all about the tools of his 
profession, has studied all about medicine, but knows 
nothing about the body upon which he is to operate. 
There are many preachers, and even evangelists, who 
know the doctrines of the Word of God thoroughly, 
but they know nothing about the men to whom these 
messages are to be addressed. That very thing which 
the average preacher so much needs — the knowledge 
of human nature — the evangelist will get in his per- 
sonal work. 

h. He should do personal work because it will 
teach him better how to appeal to men. He will know 
their excuses and how to meet them. He will know 
just the kind of problems which bother different types 
of men. There is no other way to learn these things, 



284 New Testament Evangelism 

so essential to successful soul-winning, except by going 
out and seeing men in their homes and in the places 
where they earn their daily bread. Personal work 
will assist the evangelist to know his audience. He 
will learn to know his audience as he knows his ser- 
mon. During the first part of the service he will 
find himself watching for the people upon whom he 
has called. He will remember the difficulty which 
stands in the way of each one. Thus he will be able 
to personalize his invitation. He will be able to talk 
right to the people who are present before him. 
Young people, I have always been a great believer 
in the frontal attack. Talk to the man before you, 
and deal with the things that concern him. An evan- 
gelistic meeting is no place for the diffusion of 
flowers. It is the time for the direct and personal 
presentation of the message. The veteran evangelist 
will each night eagerly look for certain people in his 
audience, and the number of them will grow as his 
acquaintance grows with the continuance of the meet- 
ing. It is unpardonable for a soul-winner to forget 
the names and faces of those whom he has visited. 
If he does forget, he has lost a very decided advan- 
tage. I have found that a little conscientious psycho- 
logical drill has more than doubled my efficiency in 
remembering names and faces. We frequently find 
that we remember a face when we forget a name. 
The visual impression has been very strong, and we 
remember it, while the auditory impression made by 
the pronunciation of the name being more indistinct, 
has faded out of memory much more quickly. In a 
first conversation with a man, I always try to use 
his name with as much frequency as possible. For 



Personal Work in the Meeting 285 

instance: *'Mr. Jones, I am delighted to know you. 
It is a fine day, Mr. Jones. How many children have 
you, Mr. Jones? Are you to be with us for some 
time, Mr. Jones?" In other words, many of us are 
auditory in our learning, and the auditory impression 
should be made as strong as the visual. Whenever 
I have tried this plan, I have found that I have been 
able to associate the name with the face. Later on 
it has proven of great value in that I was able, with- 
out an embarrassing hesitancy, to call the man by 
name. Immediately I had a point of contact which 
would make it much easier for me to bring him to a 
decision for the Lord. Nothing will so humanize the 
preaching of the evangelist as to be able to know 
every man in his audience who is not a Christian, 
and this knowledge can only be secured if he will do 
personal work. 

c. The evangelist should do personal work because 
this very work will bring men under the sound of his 
message. The very fact that he has honored some 
family with a visit will bring them to the meeting and 
under the words of truth. They feel that they know 
that preacher, and have consequently a warmer and 
more tender feeling toward him than they would have 
if he were but a stranger to them. Wise is that soul- 
winner who tries to get acquainted with all the people 
he can possibly meet, for this will spell success. Many 
times have I noted people in the audience who have 
not been present at all until a call had been made 
and an invitation extended to them. The very best 
converts in a meeting are often secured in just this 
way. There are many who look upon the evangelist, 
and especially if he is a successful evangelist, as an 



286 New Testament Evangelism 

aristocrat, and, though he is a preacher of the gospel, 
as a high and mighty individual. They know he is 
a man of education and refinement, and there is fre- 
quently a feeling of timidity when it comes to meeting 
him. It is his business, while not for a moment dis- 
sipating the proper feeling of reverence for the sacred- 
ness of his office, to break down that feeling of 
strangeness, and make all men feel that he is their 
brother in Christ, and that he is there to help them. 

d. Personal work will give the evangelist that very 
physical exercise which he needs to keep him in good 
health. "We have already considered the health of 
the evangelist in relation to the delivery of his mes- 
sage. The physical effort of going out and walking 
round among men will be a fine thing for the man, 
who, if he does the work he should do, is continually 
engrossed with his books. It is good to walk each day, 
and this kind of work will require a great deal of 
walking. 

e. The evangelist should never allow personal work 
to so weary him that his preaching will be affected. 
He should keep in mind the fact that his place, first 
of all, is in the pulpit, and that he must keep him- 
self in condition if he is to deliver messages with 
that enthusiasm and conviction which will stir men 
and lead them to decision. I once knew an evangelist 
of considerable power who made the mistake of call- 
ing so late that he was all tired out when the time 
came for the sermon. He would stumble and blunder 
through his message, when he should have been so fit 
that the words would have come with convincing 
power. It is never a good thing to work all day. 
The morning of the evangelist should be spent with 



Personal Work in the Meeting 287 

his correspondence and his studies. Time should be 
given after the work of the afternoon for a little 
rest before the evening message. 

V. Where Should Personal Work Be Done? 

(1) It would be worse than absurd to make a hard- 
and-fast rule about the time for doing personal work. 
Convert a man whenever the opportunity presents 
itself. That opportunity might come while one was 
traveling along the road in an automobile. It might 
happen on a railroad train. Catch the fish whenever 
they will bite, no matter what that time may be. 
Many times a workman can reach his fellow-work- 
man for Christ as they are doing their work together. 
The best plan always is to reach the man nearest to 
you. I once knew the manager of an express com- 
pany, who claimed that he was not efficient as a per- 
sonal worker. He said that the best he could do was 
to try and interest the young men and women who 
worked under his direction. There were about two 
hundred of these, and, through his own interest in 
the cause of Christ, he infused his spirit into the 
hearts of many of his employees and brought them 
to the Lord. On another occasion the minister of a 
Western church received a cheque through the morn- 
ing mail, with the request that it be applied on the 
expense fund of the meeting. The first thought of 
the minister was to write a polite note of thanks to 
the gentleman sending the cheque, for he was unac- 
quainted with him. On second thought, however, he 
decided to visit the man and thank him personally. 
Taking the evangelist, he went to the office of the 
man, who happened to be one of the most outstanding 



288 New Testament Evangelism 

business men of the community. At the office the 
ministers were greeted with the statement: ''Gentle- 
men, for many years I have been conscious of a lack 
in my life, and I have come to the conclusion that 
you men can satisfy that lack." After two hours 
of conversation and instruction, he was brought to a 
decision, and in a few nights made the good confes- 
sion, and was baptized into Christ. If the pastor 
had not grasped the opportunity, the man might not 
have been reached for the Master. 

(2) The very best place to do really effective per- 
sonal work is certainly in the home. One will have 
more time here, and the prospects will be more free 
in the privacy of their own homes to tell of the diffi- 
culties, if any, which keep them from coming to the 
King. Anything which needs explanation can be 
explained more easily here, and more time can be 
devoted to it. House-to-house preaching of the gospel 
has always been, and will always be, a method that 
can not be duplicated. It will never fail to get 
results. 

(3) Personal work may be done in places of busi- 
ness, but care must always be taken that too much 
time is not consumed. I remember a very suggestive 
and effective sign which used to hang in the office of 
an editor friend of mine, a sign which would be 
helpful to some personal workers I have known. In 
large letters was the invitation: ''Sit down, but don't 
intern." The man who takes a lot of valuable time 
from the business man will find that, though his recep- 
tion may be courteous, yet the very thing he has come 
to accomplish may be put further away. Calls of 
this nature must be very brief and to the point. If 



Personal Work in the Meeting 289 

this attitude is taken by the personal worker, he will 
have impressed the business man with the thought 
that he also is a man of business, and that his busi- 
ness is the most important in all the world. 

(4) Personal work before and after the service. 

One of the most effective methods of reaching men 
will be found to consist in personal work either just 
preceding the evening service or immediately follow- 
ing it. In the average church there is a desire, and 
it is under some conditions a laudable one, to visit 
with the other members of the congregation. One of 
the very best times, however, to get decisions for the 
Lord is just preceding the evening service. The 
minister of the church should always be at the door 
in the evening as the people gather. Here he can 
become acquainted with those who are strangers to 
him; he can asked them regarding their church 
affiliations. He can also, as we have noted before, 
say a word to those with whom he has spoken previ- 
ously, and urge them once more to take their stand 
for the Master, and to do it immediately. A friend of 
mine used to call this method *' priming the folks for 
the invitation.*' 

A plan for personal work just preceding the ser- 
vice, which has been used with splendid results, was 
first tried by one of our most successful Indiana 
ministers, whose name has become a household word 
among the churches of Christ. The personal workers* 
band, organized and trained long before the meeting 
began, would assemble each evening about forty-five 
minutes or an hour before the evening service began, 
and welcome the people as they came into the build- 
ing. As the various prospects would come in, certain 

19 



290 New Testament Evangelism 

ones who were acquainted with the different cases 
would accompany them to their seats and sit with 
them, always making it a point to sit on the inside 
of the seat, and never at the end. Thus, when it came 
time for the invitation song, there were trained per- 
sonal workers all over the building sitting beside each 
prospect. A quiet word of exhortation could, there- 
fore, be given without any show being made of it, 
or any undue attention being attracted to the one who 
was so earnestly considering his soul's salvation. The 
embarrassment of a personal worker coming out before 
the whole audience to talk with the one under con- 
viction was thus taken away. In all my experience 
as a soul-winner, I have never found a better plan 
for personal work during the service than this one. 
The work is done with the minimum of friction, it 
goes on smoothly and efficiently. 

Another very excellent time to do personal work is 
immediately following the evening service. The audi- 
ence has been touched and their hearts made tender 
by the proclamation of the message. Perhaps several 
have responded, and they are still under the spell 
of that response. It may be, also, that they have just 
witnessed a beautiful baptismal scene, in which the 
obedience of a simple faith has been illustrated. They 
are in the right mood to receive an additional message 
from those who are interested in seeing them saved. 
What precious moments, therefore, these are — far too 
precious to be wasted in mere handshaking or gossip- 
ing, or even friendly visiting. Christians should be 
taught that these are the moments, when the fires of 
conviction are burning, to send home the truth to 
some wavering soul. Many times an after meeting 



Personal Work in the Meeting 291 

can be held with a great deal of profit, a meeting in 
which objections may be cleared up and exhortations 
to repentance continued. 

(5) Personal work during the invitation. 

We have already anticipated this section somewhat, 
but it will not be amiss here to consider it more in 
detail. Regarding personal work at the close of the 
message and during the invitational hymn, there have 
been two diametrically opposed views, both of them 
extreme and wrong. The first one has maintained that 
it is wrong to do any personal work at all during 
the invitation. This type of preacher delivers a 
strong, stirring message, with a short exhortation, and 
then the song of invitation is sung in a quiet, unenthu- 
siastic manner. There is no word spoken, nor any 
effort at all of a personal nature to get men and 
women to decide to accept Christ. If they have not 
been so persuaded during the sermon, they will not 
be persuaded at all. The other view has maintained 
that the place of all places to urge men to come to 
Christ is the invitation song; therefore all the energy 
of all the church — minister, evangelist and personal 
workers — should be centered upon those moments. 
This position has tended to reduce the time given 
to the sermon and lengthen the time of the invitation 
song. Not only so, but when it is used extensively, 
and it is employed by those who would substitute 
mechanics for preaching to save men, it has degen- 
erated into a sort of auction sale. Many good-inten- 
tioned people who, though zealous, have not the tact 
nor any of the qualifications of a personal worker, 
have gone about promiscuously urging men to accept 
the invitation. Many who would have surrendered to 



292 New Testament Evangelism 

the Lord are embarrassed and mortified by being made 
an object of attack, and have gone away from the 
church, not to return during that meeting. In a 
word, all the dignity that should most certainly char- 
acterize an earnest effort to save souls is lost through 
this dragnet method. Little children are sometimes 
sent out through the audience, as was the case in a 
certain sensational evangelistic campaign in one of 
our most prominent Iowa cities, and, in their igno- 
rance of the membership, were seen pleading with 
some old saint in Israel who had served the Lord all 
his days. This type of invitation has cheapened the 
whole work, and has disgusted all those who believe 
in the Lord as the Saviour of men, and who desire 
that men be saved through the knowledge of the 
truth. Now, it is obvious that the right position in 
regard to personal work in invitation lies, as it gen- 
erally does when there are two positions so utterly 
at variance, about halfway between the two. It is 
certainly wrong to say that there should be no per- 
sonal work at all during the invitation. Many times 
just a word will overcome the timidity with which so 
many are afflicted, just at that crucial moment when 
they would decide to cast their lot with the Lord. 
Frequently a kind and quiet offer to accompany one 
to the front will be just the thing necessary to save 
that soul. Personal work should be done in the 
invitation, and if we as a people are at fault in our ten- 
dencies in this direction, that fault certainly lies in the 
fact that we have not done enough personal work, rather 
than that we have done too much. When fine, dig- 
nified men and women, those known and respected by 
the community for their piety and godliness, are seen 



Personal Work in the Meeting 293 

quietly asking men to accept the Saviour, their work 
will be effective and productive of much good. The 
pastor of the church, if he be a reasonably successful 
man in the community, can always do personal work 
during the invitation. He knows the people and they 
know him, and expect him to do just such work. 
When that one who has officiated at that glad hour 
when a couple were made husband and wife, or per- 
haps has said the words of comfort over the body of 
some departed loved one, approaches one under con- 
viction during the invitation hymn, he will find a 
ready response. Of all men, the local minister is the 
one who can best do this work. I can not help but 
mention here a pastor friend of mine in a great 
Kansas City church. He was always out in the audi- 
ence during the invitation hymn, and when he went 
there were always results for the kingdom. I noticed 
that he always took by the hand the one to whom he 
was talking. As he talked there was a gentle pres- 
sure to bring that one out into the aisle and down 
to the front. The magnetism of his own fine person- 
ality backed up the kind, appealing words which he 
uttered, and his prospect was won. 

The dangers of personal work in the invitation 
have been mentioned already, and it should be the 
earnest effort of those who lead in the service that 
these should not be present. It must be remembered 
that this moment can not be made too sacred, and that 
anything which will tend to cheapen it must be 
shunned as we would shun a plague. 

A question which arises just here, and one deserv- 
ing of our thoughtful attention, has to do with the 
order of our approach to different classes of men. 



294 New Testament Evangelism 

Without a doubt the first class of people to visit are 
those who have already been members of the church 
in some other locality. It is sad to acknowledge that 
this class is a large one, and that in almost any com- 
munity a number can be found who are thus wander- 
ing from the fold. The value of the canvass is 
manifest here, for the canvass gives us the plan of 
attack, and we know just where these people are and 
where they have belonged. These should be urged 
right from the beginning to do their duty. They have 
known the truth before, and it will not be necessary 
to slip up on them by degrees. The personal worker 
can come to the point at once and urge them to place 
their membership with the local church and without 
any delay. He can point out to them that such action 
will be just the means of leading many others to the 
Lord and Master. He will find that this is, as a rule, 
the most efficient means of reaching them. One thing 
which is always very essential to success in any meet- 
ing is to have some one coming down the aisles, and, 
if possible, at every invitation. There is no finer 
''priming material," to once more use the words of 
my before-mentioned friend, than those who have been 
members of the church. One of the very best ways, 
therefore, to get the meetings started is to get these 
members who are unidentified to place their member- 
ship with the church right at the first of the meeting. 
The personal worker should also go to those who 
have never attended the meeting at all. He will find 
that he can not talk religion to them very much until 
they have attended the services, but he can invite 
them to attend, and let them know that he is inter- 
ested in their welfare, and desires to see them in the 



Personal Work in the Meeting 295 

kingdom. Nothing can ever take the place of the 
strong, earnest proclamation of the Word of God, 
but there will be but little results from that preaching 
unless those who are unconverted are brought to the 
place where the truth is preached. The evangelist 
can not go about asking men to come and hear him 
preach. The members of the church can do this, and 
it is one of the best and surest ways to awaken 
interest in the gospel. 

The personal worker can also go to the man who 
has attended the meeting and ask him to come to 
Christ. There is no better person to visit than this 
one whose heart has been warmed by the singing of 
the great gospel hymns and by the preaching of the 
truth as it is in Christ. He is ready for the invitation 
to come. Of all the prospects for a meeting, this one 
is the best. 

To me this study to-day nas been an interesting 
one. There can be no office more important than that 
of the personal evangelist. The things we might 
have said are so numerous that a whole book could 
be written upon them. Perhaps this short hour we 
have spent together may^ at least have more forcibly 
impressed upon us the solemn importance of training 
to do the work of soul-winning in a personal way. If 
we have done this, the time and energy expended has 
been well worth while. 



VIII 

FINANCING THE MEETING 

THE importance of a proper method in financing 
a campaign is patent to any man who has ever 
had anything of this kind to do. Many slipshod 
methods in church finance have been used in the past, 
and these same methods have been tried with miser- 
able results in a special effort at soul-winning. It 
is not only necessary that the right method be used, 
but it is also imperative that that method have respect 
to the after effects of the financial campaign. That 
there should be no ''kick back" is absolutely essential. 
Care must therefore be taken that the money side of 
the meeting be made not merely a business proposi- 
tion, but that it be an act of worship; an act which, 
instead of making it harder to raise money for the 
work of the Lord, will make it easier and make the 
people more happy in giving. 

I. The Two General Plans Which Are Usually 
Followed in Financing a Meeting. 

(1) The so-called freewill-offering plan. 

There are several reasons why this plan is usually 
inadvisable. While it may have been used with a 
reasonable degree of success in some places, it seems 
to be the opinion of those who have tried it out that 

296 



Financing the Meeting 297 

it really fails to meet the requirements of a real New 
Testament meeting. 

a. If the evangelist receives a large offering, there 
are always some in the church who are dissatisfied, 
and think that he has received too much. Not only 
is this true if he receives an abnormally large offer- 
ing, but even though he be but adequately paid 
there are always some who think he has been paid 
too much. The next time an evangelistic meeting is 
proposed these very people are going to have memories 
of the great amount of money that the evangelist 
took out of the town with him, and they are going 
to be opposed to all evangelists, and consequently to 
all evangelistic meetings. In our own brotherhood 
there have been many meetings in which, because of 
the great personal magnetism of the evangelist and 
because of the large number brought into the kingdom 
under his ministration, offerings have been given which 
far exceeded the amount that should have been given. 
We do not mean by this that the laborer is not 
worthy of his hire, for surely the man who is a great 
soul-winner has the right to be well paid for his work, 
and we believe this so strongly that we shall have 
occasion to mention it again in this discussion; but 
when soul-saving degenerates into commercialism, it 
has lost the real spirit of the Master, and will fail to 
accomplish the work that the Master desired to 
accomplish. Neither do we wish to place a money 
value on the souls of men. Souls are priceless, but 
there is a line which may be drawn and beyond that 
line it would be harmful to give to any one man. 

h. It is again apparent that when this plan is 
followed, money must necessarily be made a prominent 



298 New Testament Evangelism 

consideration. In a word, it must be mentioned fre- 
quently; in fact, it is only going to be the human 
thing for the evangelist to look after his own interests 
in this respect. If he is reticent about it, he will not 
be adequately supported, for, generally speaking, that 
which is every one's business is no one's business. 
If he speaks about it too often, there are those who 
immediately impugn his motives as a preacher, think- 
ing that he is ''after the money," and not after souls. 
The financial responsibility is here placed upon him 
when that responsibility belongs to the church. 

Often on the last day a great money campaign 
is made, and the last impression made is a money 
impression. People go away with that impression, 
instead of one which will lift them to higher and 
better planes of thought and action. If the money 
were being raised for missionary work, or for a new 
building, or something that will be an advance over 
that which has already been done, it would have a 
wholly different effect on the people; but if it is raised 
for one man or a team, it is a lowering somehow of 
the whole spiritual tone. The last part of the meeting 
is not psychologically the place for the mention of 
the money of the campaign. I quote here from a 
letter written by the clerk of an official board, and 
speaking of a meeting which had just closed in the 
church of which he was a member. Concerning the 
financial campaign, he says: '*0n the last day a great 
offering was taken for the evangelist. The usual 
* drumming-up ' methods were followed, and the church 
was divested of $4,200 to pay for about three weeks' 
work. The great spiritual tone of the meeting was 
ruined by the competitive efforts which were used 



Financing the Meeting 299 

when individuals and corporations vied with each 
other for the publicity which giving to a successful 
evangelist would bring them. Think of the house 
of God being prostituted in this manner and for 
selfish ends! One could almost wish for the reappear- 
ance of Jesus to drive out the money-changers." What 
an awful indictment is this! 

c. This plan is also psychologically wrong. Instead 
of tying a man up with the meeting in a financial 
way right at its beginning, it leaves him in the 
attitude of ''watchful waiting" until the meeting 
comes to a close. The statement of Jesus that "where 
a man's treasure is, there will his heart be also," 
applies with tremendous force to soul-winning. If 
one has invested in souls, he is going to be far more 
interested in the conduct of that business which is 
being carried on for the salvation of souls. This plan, 
instead of keeping before men the thought that they 
are investing in the noblest work of the church of 
God, and that it is an investment which will bring 
bounteous returns, an investment which will bring 
interest at the rate of a hundred per cent, and 
more, teaches them that they are giving to the evan- 
gelist because they like him or because he has done 
them good. Instead of training men, therefore, in 
Christian giving, instead of teaching them that they 
are to give to God's work, no matter who the evan- 
gelist is, if he be a good and consecrated man, it trains 
them in absolutely the wrong manner. The more 
money one invests in the work, the more time and 
interest he is going to put into the work, and, all 
other things being equal, the meeting which succeeds 
in a large way will succeed in proportion to the time 



300 New Testament Evangelism 

and interest invested on the part of those who are 
members of the church. 

d. It should also be noted that this plan is some- 
times inadvisable because the man who has worked, 
and worked hard, is frequently underpaid. There 
have been many noble souls who have gone out into 
the highways and hedges, and have not been sup- 
ported at all. They worked just as hard, and even 
harder, than they would have worked had they been 
in the large church where everything was ready and 
the influence of the congregation brought the crowds 
to hear the gospel presented, yet they were not paid 
enough to keep them in clothes and food. There may 
have been those who were able to give, and give 
liberally, who did not do so because they knew not 
how. The preacher of the Word suffered. And, 
while it is the place of the preacher to suffer for the 
cause of Christ, yet the Master plainly taught that 
the laborer is worthy of his hire. 

(2) The stated salary plan. 

This plan, as its very name implies, is one in which 
the evangelist or the special worker is paid a stated 
sum for his services. This sum, of course, is agreed 
upon before the evangelist is called. When this plan is 
followed, churches can get into the habit of planning 
each year for their meeting, and including a meeting 
expense in the local budget. At least an approximate 
sum can be appropriated for a special series of evan- 
gelistic services. 

That this plan is not subject to the objections 
which we have found to lie against the freewill- 
offering plan is readily manifest. The church knows 
beforehand about what the meeting is going to cost, 



Financing the Meeting 301 

and can consequently prepare for this item just as 
they have prepared the community and the personal 
workers or any other part of the work. There is no 
chance for the ''kick back" that has been before 
mentioned, because each party knows just what is 
expected of it before the meeting begins. At the 
close of the campaign, therefore, all are satisfied. Not 
only is this true, but the very danger of not tying 
a man up with the work is avoided. In the salary 
plan there is a budget for the whole meeting, just 
the same as there is a budget for the local church. 
As that budget of the local work is supposed to be 
borne by all, so the budget for the meeting is a 
matter of common concern and a matter of common 
responsibility. If in the beginning of the meeting the 
money for the meeting budget is raised, the people 
of the congregation are tied up then and there with 
the work. Their interest is made keener, for, since 
they have invested money in the work, they are 
anxious to see results from that work. Then, also, 
the very fact that a man is giving in a regular, 
systematic way to the work of saving souls will 
dignify the work in his eyes. As he gives regularly 
to the local work, as he comes on the first day of the 
week to bring his offering to the house of the Lord, 
so, following the same plan, he brings his offering 
weekly to the church for the special work of saving 
men from their sins. There is thus no break in the 
financial system of the church, but the whole plan 
goes on smoothly and evenly. It is simply another 
application of the ideal which has been before con- 
sidered in these lectures of an evangelistic effort as 
simply an enthusiastic, intensified regular service. 



302 New Testament Evangelism 

(3) The contract for a meeting. 

Every church entering into an agreement with 
any evangelist, whether it be but an exchange meeting 
with some evangelistic minister, or whether an outside 
evangelist from the regular general field is called, 
should always have a contract in writing, in which the 
terms for the meeting are clearly stated. The writer 
once heard the statement that the holding of an evan- 
gelistic meeting was such a sacred thing that a 
contract was unnecessary. Because of its very sacred- 
ness it should be guarded from every possible thing 
that would tend to mar its spirit. Nothing has so 
marred otherwise splendid meetings in the past like 
misunderstandings. As long as we are human there 
will be misunderstandings even among brethren in 
Christ. There is no misunderstanding which, as a 
rule, is so much of a misunderstanding as one between 
good men. Both parties are sure they are right, and, 
since they are men of convictions, they believe in 
standing for those convictions. A clear, plain contract 
between evangelist and church will do away absolutely 
with any possibility for a misunderstanding on the 
subject of finance in a meeting. Whenever a thing is 
merely a verbal understanding, there are always some 
who will understand it differently from the way it 
was intended, and from just such misunderstandings 
doubts arise, and many times serious troubles come. 
Before the evangelist is called his written contract, 
containing all the terms which the church is to meet, 
should be very thoroughly considered and discussed 
in a meeting of the board of officers, and it should 
always be a meeting in which every member of that 
board is present. In this way all will understand just 



Fincmcing the Meeting 303 

what the terms are and how they are to be met, and 
all possibility of misunderstandings will be avoided. 
It has been my own experience, after I have signed 
the contract for a campaign, that I have never seen 
it any more. It is always there, however, for refer- 
ence if it should be needed. After all, the spirit 
of the meeting is one of its most important and last- 
ing features, and you must allow nothing to arise 
which will in any way detract from the sweetness and 
beauty of that spirit, for, if you do, you will scar the 
body of Christ our Lord. 

II. The Salary of Evangelists. 

The salary of evangelists will always depend upon 
the worth to the cause of Christ of those evangelists. 
In this work there can never be a standard salary 
paid, for this service will always follow the law of 
supply and demand. Not only so, but the man of 
ability will always be the one who is in demand, and 
consequently he will be the one who will be paid the 
largest salary. "While this may seem to be rather 
a cold-blooded way to look at this matter, yet it 
follows the same rule as the salaries of men who 
occupy our pulpits. The minister who is the best 
builder, who knows men and who knows how to win 
them to the work, is the one most constantly in 
demand and the one who always commands the highest 
salary. While this is a sacred calling, yet, since the 
laborer is worthy of his hire, that laborer which is 
the most successful and the most efficient will always 
receive the greatest remuneration for his service. 

Now, while this position is true, yet there are 
certain general principles underlying the consideration 



304 New Testament Evangelism 

of how much an evangelist should be paid for his 
work which are worthy of our study. It should be 
noted that, if he is an efficient soul-winner, he should 
receive a greater salary than if he were minister of 
a local church. His work is harder and far more 
wearing than the work of the minister. I have tried 
both, and between the two there is no comparison. 
And I do not mean by this, young men, that I do 
not appreciate the work of the man who must hold 
the fort in the local field. Long and wearisome, 
indeed, are his hours. Many and grievous are the 
burdens which are to be borne. Many are the sleep- 
less nights as he wrestles with the problems which 
oppress his soul. It is not to be wondered at that 
the majority of our ministers are white-haired while 
they are still young men. And were it not for these 
same tireless years of labor to gather in the loose 
edges which margin the field, to co-ordinate all the 
forces so that a great hammer blow might be struck 
for the cause of Christ, your work as an evangelist 
would be of no effect. But the work of the one who 
is constantly preaching and constantly doing personal 
work is more wearing than that of the local preacher. 
One will preach harder in an evangelistic meeting 
than he will in a regular pulpit. He is keyed up to 
a higher pitch; he has that same exalted feeling all 
the time that the local minister has during the Lord's 
Day services. It takes more energy also to deliver 
a real evangelistic message with the fire and enthu- 
siasm to rouse men to action than it takes to deliver 
the average regular Lord's Day sermon. Perhaps we 
should put just as much into the sermon in the 
regular pulpit, and I believe there are some who can 



Financing the Meeting 305 

successfully do this, but I am speaking of the average, 
and the truth of the matter is that the average man 
does not do it. I know that in my own pastoral 
service; though I tried earnestly, yet I could not 
reach the heights that I could reach in a great meet- 
ing. T have frequently noticed also that even in the 
meeting 1 could not really come to that place where 
I felt the highest exaltation until I had preached for 
a week or ten days. Not only is it true that one 
preaches harder, but it is also true that he wears out 
sooner than he would in a located field. It has been 
estimated by one authority that the man who preaches 
as an evangelist should preach — indeed, as he must 
preach if he is to win men — for two hundred nights 
a year, will rarely reach the age of fifty if he starts 
his work at twenty-five years of age. 

It should also be remembered that the evangelist 
must give up his home life, if he is to be a traveling 
servant of the Lord Jesus. The missionary must leave 
his native land and journey far away across the 
miles of blue sea to live his life among those who are 
alien to his customs and ideals. But, as a rule, he 
does have his immediate loved ones with him. He 
may have the constant association with wife and chil- 
dren. All those little joys that make the word 
"home'' so beautiful may be his. But this is not 
true of the evangelist. He must leave his loved ones, 
and see them at only infrequent intervals. During 
that period when boys most need the manly care of 
a father the evangelist's boy must have the best 
guidance that a mother can give. If the evangelist 
looks forward to a home life on this earth, it can only 
be when he is old and ready to retire from active 

20 



306 New Testament Evangelism 

service. When that time comes, it is right that he 
should be able to retire to his home in a reasonable 
degree of comfort, so that his declining years may 
know the peace of which he as a good soldier of Christ 
Jesus is worthy. 

The life which the evangelist must of necessity 
live because of the nature of his work is another 
item which bears strongly upon the amount of salary 
which he should receive. It is a very irregular life. 
As we have before noted, only the man of strong, 
vigorous constitution can endure it. His meals are 
irregular. While he may plan for regular meals at 
regular hours, yet there are so many social functions 
which are necessarily connected with the work that he 
is forced, not only to eat at all times of day and 
night, but also all kinds of food. He dare not offend 
some sister who has labored long that her dinner may 
be just right. So, as a courageous soldier, he must 
go bravely to the slaughter, trusting that, after all, it 
may be all right, even though he knows he is breaking 
all the - laws of health. 

The irregularity of the evangelist's eating is only 
equaled by the corresponding irregularity in his sleep- 
ing. He must sleep in all kinds of places and at all 
kinds of hours. If he be of nervous temperament, 
many nights he will fight the pillow until the **wee 
sma' hours.'' Even the veteran will find that there 
are times when he can not sleep. Perhaps there has 
been a service of supreme power, and he is living in 
a realm so exalted that it is with a great deal of 
difficulty that he can come down to earth again. 
Many times he is forced to sleep in homes where the 
people, though good folk and those who love the work 



Financing the Meeting 307 

of the Lord, are yet entirely out of sympathy with 
the work of an evangelist. They do not understand 
the strain he is under, nor that it really takes energy 
to preach a sermon. They believe in the old theory 
that it is easy to talk, and consequently that it does 
not take any special labor to perform the task. A 
personal experience will illustrate my thought. 

In a hot Western valley, in July a few years ago, 
a young friend of mine and I were engaged in a 
meeting in a small country church. We were housed 
in a home where there were twelve children. The 
people were farmers, and their farm was the irrigated 
type. When we landed at the home, we found that 
there was a fine, big feather bed for us to sleep in. 
Can you imagine a feather bed in July and the ther- 
mometer standing at 110 degrees in the shade? Now, 
since these people had the farm to care for, they 
arose at four o'clock in the morning. Their voices 
had never been trained in modulation, hence they 
used the same tones in addressing each other that 
they used when addressing the cows, pigs and chickens. 
To add to the comfort of their visitors, they had an 
old, worn-out phonograph with a large tin horn, the 
kind of machine that blatted when the record was 
put on. Promptly at four-fifteen the machine started. 
The weather was so terrifically hot that we could not 
even think of going to bed until twelve. It was a 
three weeks' nightmare, and only the fact that we 
were young and strong kept us from insanity. Now, 
the people were good folks. They loved the minister, 
and were highly honored that he was their guest, but 
they did not know how to care for him. They were 
not in sympathy with his needs as one under a great 



308 New Testament Evangelism 

mental strain, and consequently requiring long hours 
of rest. 

The evangelist should receive a good salary because 
of the time which he is constantly losing. Frequently 
epidemics break out in the town in which he is con- 
ducting his service, and he must move on to some 
other place, and it is not always convenient to move. 
Perhaps he must wait for a week or two before his 
next meeting can begin. While he is thus waiting 
he is on heavy expense. At times his meetings may 
be closed by strikes, such as a coal strike. In the 
summer he loses much time because, as a rule, few 
meetings are held at that season of the year. It 
can be readily seen, therefore, that the evangelist 
is frequently losing time, so that his salary must of 
necessity be such that it will strike a good average 
for the year. He must be able to save a little for the 
old age which will come upon him, perhaps consid- 
ably earlier than if he were in some other kind of 
work. He has been burning up his very life in the 
effort to save men, and he should be allowed, at the 
time when he is going down the shady side of the hill, 
to go in peace and comfort. 

A question here arises which is sufficiently impor- 
tant to demand our consideration for a time. Many 
evangelists in their terms for meetings ask that each 
Lord's Day count as a week. This is so frequently 
misunderstood that it is well to study it here and at 
some length. I have found in my own experience that 
whenever men understand this matter clearly there 
is never any trouble, for the logic of it is very clear. 
In my own work it is always my plan to go from 
one meeting immediately into another. If the cam- 



Financing the Meeting 309 

paigns are close together, it is not a difficult thing to 
do, and generally we find that we can close one meet- 
ing on a Lord's Day night and begin the next one im- 
mediately, say on Tuesday or Wednesday night. But 
now suppose a long trip between meetings, say from 
Seattle, Washington, to Jacksonville, Florida. This 
kind of a trip is frequently made. Now, it will take 
a week's time to make it. Of necessity, therefore, the 
meeting in Seattle must close on Lord's Day night, 
and the one at Jacksonville must begin on the follow- 
ing Lord's Day. If the evangelist has been five 
Lord's Days with the Seattle Church, and is paid for 
four full weeks, he will lose one Lord's Day, and 
consequently one full week, from his salary in order 
to serve the Jacksonville congregation. Without a 
doubt he could have secured a meeting much nearer 
than the one at Jacksonville, but, since the Jackson- 
ville Church is insistent upon his coming, they should 
be willing to pay for that time which he uses in 
traveling from Seattle. A week on the train is 
even more tiresome to the evangelist than a week of 
preaching would be. Six nights in a sleeper, perhaps 
in foul air, is often productive of colds, and many 
times the evangelist finds that it takes several days 
after such a trip for him to get into shape for 
his work. It should also be noted that, if the evan- 
gelist loses one week in each meeting, he will lose 
about three months out of every year. This, added 
to the time he loses in epidemics, strikes, summer 
months, etc., would mean that he would be paid for 
about half of his time. The average pastor understands 
this matter, and he should explain it carefully to his 
officers, so that they may understand also. 



310 New Testament Evangelism 

III. A Suggested Plan for Financing a Meeting. 

The following plan for financing a meeting is one 
which we have tried out in our own work, and have 
found to be universally successful. It has never 
failed whenever it has been faithfully carried out 
according to the instructions given. I have seen a 
great many different plans tried, and in a large num- 
ber of meetings, but this is the best of all of them, 
for it partakes of the nature of the best in all of 
them. I do not claim any originality for it, because 
it is not mine. I have picked up suggestions through- 
out the years, until gradually the plan has formed 
itself. Briefly stated, it is a combination of the 
pledge and freewill-offering plan. On the second 
Lord's Day of the meeting, for reasons which we 
will notice later, pledges are taken in a public manner 
from the members of the church and from any friend 
of the church who desires to give. These pledges are 
to be made on the weekly basis, and they are to begin 
with the first Lord's Day of the campaign, and close 
with the last one. In addition to these pledges, a 
freewill offering is to be taken every night of the 
meeting. On the last Lord's Day an offering is to 
be taken from the new converts. This is to be in 
the nature of a thank-offering, showing their appre- 
ciation of the work that has been done for them 
during the campaign. From these three sources — the 
pledges, the freewill offerings and the thank-offering 
at the close of the meeting — enough money will be 
secured to pay all of the bills of the campaign, and 
generally it will be found that it will provide a fine 
surplus when the meeting is over. 



Financing the Meeting 311 

Now, there are several reasons why the pledges 
for the support of the meeting should be taken on 
the second Lord's Day: 

(1) All the members will be present on the second 
Lord's Day. It generally takes a week to get started 
in a good meeting, and by the end of the first week 
every one is becoming interested; they are acquainted 
with the evangelist, and on that day they will all be 
present. For the first part of the campaign, there 
is no better time to get together a representative 
audience of the members of the church than on the 
second Lord's Day. It is the psychological time. 

(2) They should be taken on this day, also, 
because it is right to get the finances out of the 
way in the first part of the meeting, so that the 
matter of soul-winning may be stressed from that time 
on to the close of the campaign. If the last of the 
meeting is used for this purpose, it leaves the wrong 
impression on the minds of the people, as we have 
already noted. If this day is used for the purpose, 
the matter of money will not interfere in any way 
with the progress of the campaign. 

(3) The pledges should be taken thus early, in 
order to tie the members up with the work to be done. 
As we have before said, there is no better way for 
a man to become interested in the work of leading 
men to Christ than for him to put some of his life 
into it, and money is coined life. Into a dollar he 
has coined a part of his muscle and his brain, and 
he has thus made that dollar sacred. When he invests 
some of that life in the work of saving his brethren 
from their sins, he will immediately become vitally 
interested in the success of the work. Care should be 



312 New Testament Evangelism 

taken to secure as many pledges as possible. As the 
every-member canvass benefits the whole church and 
every individual in it, so an every-member canvass 
for soul-winning will stimulate interest, and will 
increase the results manyfold. I can not emphasize 
this matter too much, young friends, because it is 
fundamentally important, and is psychologically related 
to the success of your work. Don 't be afraid of raising 
money for the kingdom of God. I must sadly con- 
fess that one of the lacks of my own early ministry 
was that I did not emphasize strongly enough the 
necessity of a man dedicating his wealth to the work 
of the Christ. In proportion as we can get men to 
dedicate their money, they will dedicate their interest 
and themselves. 

(4) The pledges should be taken on the second 
Lord's Day because, if they are taken thus early, 
the last part of the meeting will be left free so 
that the evangelist can tie up the new converts with 
the work of the church in a financial way. That this 
is one of the most potent ways to hold a man in 
the kingdom, is easily understood, and time must be 
left for it. If the last of the meeting is reserved for 
raising the money for the campaign, this important 
work will be crowded out, and the service of the 
meeting to the church wiU be weakened just so 
much. 

In preparation for the second Lord's Day, a spe- 
cial meeting of the ofiicers of the church should be 
called. This meeting should be called early in the 
week, so that time may be given for the preparation 
which is so essential to the best success. It is a good 
plan to have this meeting on the very first Lord's 



Financing the Meeting 313 

Day, and not later than Tuesday night. At this meet- 
ing the evangelist should explain carefully the plan 
to be followed, or, rather, the plan that he has fol- 
lowed up to this time. He should not place it before 
his brethren in a dogmatic manner, but rather as 
the best plan he has known. He should recognize 
that their community may be a little different from 
others in which he has served, but that, generally 
speaking, the plan he suggests is the best one he 
has known. He must clearly state it, so that there 
may be no possibility at all of any misunder- 
standing. If he follows this method, he will find that 
the board will enthusiastically adopt his plan, and 
that he will have them solidly behind it. In a word, 
it will become their plan. At this meeting, also, a 
financial committee should be appointed, if one does 
not already exist, and on this- committee the strongest 
men should be placed. Many mistakes have been 
made just here. Men are frequently put on a com- 
mittee who have a small money vision. They do not 
receive a large salary, or they have not been used 
to thinking in large terms, hence they will be found 
to minimize this part of the work. They will of 
necessity think in small terms. It is always best to 
put men on this committee who are used to thinking 
in the largest terms possible. Now, this committee 
should not be too large; three, or at most five, men 
will be found to be sufficient. At this meeting, also, 
it should be decided who is to be the master of cere- 
monies on the day the pledges are to be taken. It is 
sometimes a good thing also to get some of the pledges 
from the officers of the board that very night. Careful 
preparation will go far in bringing success. 



314 New Testament Evangelism 

The duties of the finance committee are very impor- 
tant. They should come together as soon as possible 
after the meeting of the board, and decide upon the 
weekly budget which must be raised. Of course, every 
item of expense — salaries, traveling expenses, enter- 
tainment, advertising, etc. — must be included. As 
soon as the amount to be raised is determined, then 
it is a good plan to decide on how much shall be 
asked for as the highest weekly pledge. This will 
depend altogether on the amount to be raised. It 
has been my own experience that one-third of the 
weekly expense should be secured in the first four 
pledges. This will, of course, be modified by the 
amount to be raised and the number of members in 
the church to raise it. The committee should then 
quietly canvass the best givers of the congregation 
during the week, and secure from them the largest 
pledges, so that on the morning of the second Lord's 
Day everything will go smoothly and without any 
hitch. In our own work we always have at least half 
of the amount definitely raised in pledges before we 
go before the congregation on the second Lord's Day. 
The rest of it, provided the weather is good and all 
the other circumstances are favorable, will be found 
to be an easy matter. 

In answer to the question which always arises here 
as to who should preside on the day of raising the 
pledges no definite answer can be given. Generally 
speaking, if the minister of the church is a popular 
man with his congregation, if he has a good bit of 
humor in his make-up, if he has enthusiasm, he will 
be the best man for the work. Many times, however, 
the minister does not possess these necessary charac- 



Financing the Meeting 315 

teristics, and it would be a grave mistake to have him 
try to secure the pledges. There are times when it is 
necessary for the evangelist to do this work, although 
it is not the best taste for him to do it. He should 
reserve his part in raising money until the last of 
the meeting, when he is to take time to raise debts, 
if there be any, and to pledge the new people to the 
local work and missions. The man appointed to do 
this work must be one who can keep his audience in 
a good humor all the way through. He must have 
pep and enthusiasm, for, if there is any work that 
takes just this, it is the work of raising money. 

In preparing for the second Lord's Day service 
some psychological helps should be taken into account. 
If possible, on the evenings just preceding that day a 
great effort should be made to secure a number of 
fine additions to the church. There is nothing that 
will put people in the right mood for this day like 
additions to the church, for this is an evidence that the 
work is succeeding. It is also good to make a great 
endeavor for a Bible-school invitation just preceding 
the morning service. The teachers and officers can 
be working on this all through the week, and every- 
thing will be in readiness for the great day. The 
Bible-school service should be a little shorter than, 
usual, so as to give plenty of time for the invitation. 
The Bible school must close promptly, so all the time 
needed may be given for the work of securing the 
pledges. If in the invitation a touching appeal can 
be made, and a number of boys and girls and men 
and women can be induced to confess their faith in 
Christ, the atmosphere will be just right for the fol- 
lowing important service. It should be emphasized all 



316 New Testament Evangelism 

through the week that the main invitation on the 
Lord's Day morning will be extended at the Bible- 
school hour. It will be of little use to expect any 
additions after the regular morning service on the day 
when the pledges are taken. The main emphasis has. 
been placed on finance, and it is seldom that any one 
responds at the morning invitation. It should be kept 
in mind, however, that the objective to be reached in 
that service is the financing of the meeting, and every- 
thing should be made to contribute to that end. 

The service itself, at which the pledges are taken, 
is one of peculiar interest. Everything possible that 
will tend in any way to interfere with the work in 
hand must be sidetracked. The first song should be 
the communion hymn. After the communion and 
offering another hymn can be sung. After this hymn, 
and preceding the morning sermon, the one who has 
been chosen to secure the pledges should then take 
charge and do the work. This should always be done 
before the sermon, and never after it. Remembering 
that this is the objective to be reached, it should have, 
after the communion Supper itself, the first place. 
If you have time left for a sermon after this work 
has been accomplished, well and good. The sermon, 
however, on this occasion must take the secondary 
place. The one who is to raise the money should 
then state clearly the work that he wishes to do, 
that it is to be done in order to get the financial side 
of the meeting out of the way, in order that the time 
may be spent in winning souls, and that at the close 
of the meeting the evangelist may have the time for 
the purpose of lining up the new converts with the 
work of the church. He should state carefully the 



Financing the Meeting 317 

budget to be raised and the terms of the pledges, 
that they are to begin with the first Lord's Day of 
the meeting and to close with the last one, each Lord's 
Day counting one full week. This must be made so 
clear that no one can misunderstand it. It is well, 
if he can do so, to give a glowing and enthusiastic 
commendation of the success that has already been 
accomplished and a prophecy of the results which will 
come in the future days of the meeting. In asking 
for pledges, it will be of value if he will begin higher 
than the amounts that he knows have already been 
pledged. Then, when he comes to the largest pledges 
that have been made, every one will be anxious to do 
their part, and he will find the work easy. He 
should never scold his audience, but should endeavor 
to keep them in a good humor. An audience in a 
good humor will respond readily, and they will enjoy 
doing the thing which is so necessary to the success of 
the campaign. 

A moment may be very profitably given just here 
to the consideration of the freewill offerings to be 
taken during the meeting. In times past there were 
many who objected to taking a public offering, and 
even now there are occasionally a few who think that 
it is not just the thing to do. But why not ? In 
these modern days your audience is continually chang- 
ing. Every night there are new people, and these 
people are used to giving to the church. Not only so, 
but it is good to teach men that money has a place 
in the work of the kingdom of God. Many good 
men have failed in the service of the King because 
they were afraid of money. These offerings, while 
they may not be always large, depending, of course. 



318 New Testament Evangelism 

upon the size of the audiences attending, will help in 
a fine way, and they should be taken. Not only so, 
but they should be taken every night, especially if 
the place where the meeting is being held is of any 
size at all. As to the effect on these offerings after 
the pledges are taken, it might be here noted that it 
does not seem materially to affect them at all. The 
members of the church know that their part is to be 
paid in pledges, hence the loose offerings of each 
evening are, as a rule, from those who do not belong 
to the church or those from sister churches. 

Should the money for the campaign ever be raised 
before the meeting begins? Broadly speaking, no. 
Of course, we would not attempt to lay down a hard- 
and-fast rule concerning this matter, for it may be 
that the work can be easily done beforehand. How- 
ever, many of the fine results of which we have 
already spoken will be lost if this is done. Then, 
too, it will be found that the people will not give 
as much before the beginning of the meeting as they 
will after it is in full swing. It will also be harder 
than it will after the interest has been roused. 

Concerning the offering from the new converts at 
the close of the meeting, we shall have more to say 
in our talk on ''The New Convert." It may be men- 
tioned here, however, that this offering will be of 
great help if the meeting is successful. Since the 
pledges and loose offerings generally take care of all 
the expenses, this offering will assist in constituting 
a surplus. Regarding the preparation for this offer- 
ing and the taking of it we will speak later. 

A fine surplus in the treasury of the church after 
the meeting is closed will have a great effect upon the 



Financing the Meeting 319 

membership. It will make the next evangelistic cam- 
paign easier, for the people will remember the ease 
with which they financed the former one. It will make 
them happy, also, because it will mean success, and 
nothing succeeds like success. It is, therefore, a fine 
thing to strive in every campaign you hold to leave 
money in the treasury of the church. It will make 
the work of the minister less difiicult, and will leave 
the people kindly disposed toward you and the great 
work you are doing for the King. 



IX 

THE CONDUCT OF AN EVANGELISTIC SERVICE 

THAT there is a great difference between an evan- 
gelistic service and any other religious service is 
evident, not only to the student of such matters, but 
to the average religious man as well. There is a 
greater exaltation, a greater freedom, more fire and 
enthusiasm, more concentration of attention and more 
unity of consciousness than in any other service. 
That this phenomenon is produced by the observance 
of certain well-known laws is also evident. It is not, 
and has never been, simply an accidental thing, but 
its attainment is possible only as certain conditions 
are secured and certain laws are obeyed. To a study 
of the laws from which, and the conditions through 
which, that special type of service which we call 
evangelistic results, we wish to direct your study in 
this lecture. We all realize, I am sure, as we approach 
this study, that the brief hour or hour and a half in 
which we conduct the evangelistic service is the time 
in which all the other lessons we have been consider- 
ing in this course converges. This is the time to which 
we have come in all our training and preparation. 
It is the great moment of attainment, and it is surely 
necessary that, after having been trained in the deliv- 
ery of the message, in the content of it, and in those 

320 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 321 

laws which have to do with bringing of men to the 
house of God in order that they may hear and be 
saved, that we know just how to conduct that service, 
so that all we have learned may be used in its most 
effective and convincing manner. There are many 
men who are fine preachers of the Word of life, whose 
culture and refinement are of the highest type, whose 
souls are pure and filled with the love of men, and 
yet right at the crucial hour they fail. Can we learn 
the why of their failure that we may avoid some of 
the pitfalls into which they have fallen? Some of 
those simple rules, which are so simple that often 
they have been overlooked or utterly disregarded, are 
to be emphasized in our discussion to-day. You may 
be saying before we have finished: ''Why, I have 
known all these things, and all my life." But do you 
practice them? It is in the hope that their emphasis 
here may cause you to scrupulously practice them 
that they are given the place of prominence. 

I. The Preparation of the Building for the Evan- 
gelistic Service. 

(1) The necessity of its being properly heated, 
ventilated and lighted. 

It is absolutely impossible to make converts in an 
uncomfortable building. This is especially true if the 
building be too cold. A cold building kills the sing- 
ing. I have often noticed when the building was 
several degrees colder than normal the immediate 
effect upon the singing of the congregation. They 
seemed to be literally frozen up. When people are 
thinking of the comfort of their bodies, it is difficult 
to get them to think of the welfare of their souls. It 

21 



322 New Testament Evangelism 

it better to have the building too warm than to have 
it too cold. I once knew a great evangelist who 
claimed that he could get more decisions if the build- 
ing was heated until it was just a little above normal. 
It has been my own observation that this is true, and 
that more decisions can be secured if the building is 
just a little warmer than the usual temperature. 

It is almost trite to speak of ventilation in this 
time when all men are believers in it, and yet many 
a service has been deadened and its effect nullified 
because no one thought of the value, in the stimula- 
tion of thinking and the securing of action, of a little 
fresh air. This rule must be observed faithfully if 
men are to be won to the Lord. Plenty of fresh air 
will keep the people wide awake and interested in the 
progress of the service. It should be the work of 
the evangelist to watch these things carefully. 

Much of the success of an evangelistic service 
depends upon the lighting of the building in which 
the meeting is conducted. A dull, somber light which 
casts a quiet glow over the room is fine for a devo- 
tional service, but it will not promote an evangelistic 
effort at all. The room must be brightly lighted if 
the proper effect is to be secured. An evangelistic 
appeal, one in which the whole intent is to get the 
hearer to act, is, after all, a brightening thing to the 
soul. The effort to warm one's heart to the point of 
deciding to surrender to the Lord will be far more 
successful in a room whose very brightness and attrac- 
tiveness enforces the brightness and appealing power 
of the message. New life is born, not in the forbid- 
ding gloom of the winter, but in the bright glow of 
spring sunshine. Not only should the room be brightly 



Conduct of mi Evangelistic Service 323 

lighted, but it should be lighted early. I have 
attended services where the majority of the lights 
were not turned on until just time for the service 
to begin. This is a mistake, for the semi-darkness of 
a half-lighted room will have a tendency to dampen 
the spirits of the audience before the service begins. 
It is far better to have the building brightly lighted 
from the very moment that the first people arrive 
until time for them to go to their homes. 

In increasingly larger numbers the churches of 
the land are installing the indirect lighting systems. 
This method of lighting a building is the most scien- 
tific one known to-day, and it will be a great help 
in all churches where it is employed. There should 
be no lights behind the preacher during the delivery 
of his message. There is a power in the eye of the 
minister which is entirely lost if the members of his 
congregation are forced to shade their eyes or to look 
away while he is preaching. Many times positive 
injury to a meeting has resulted from neglect of this 
extremely important matter, for people have been 
given bad headaches, and have refused to return to 
the service. 

(2) The psychological arrangement of the building. 

a. All psychological barriers should be removed. 

The public speaker speaks to his audience, not only 
with his voice and lips, but with his hands, his feet — 
in short, his whole body. How few there are who 
realize this. It is the whole man who brings the 
message unto the audience. What a mistake it is, 
therefore, to have a great number of barriers between 
the speaker and that audience. Henry Ward Beecher 
gives a humorous description of a certain church in 



324 New Testament Evangelism 

New York City. It was not built for the man who 
believes in allowing his whole personality to enter into 
the sermon. '*We will take the church in New York 
called the Broadway Tabernacle. In it there are two 
lines of columns which hide a range of six pews, on 
each side straight from the pulpit clear through to 
the corner of the church, where the men and women 
can not see the preacher on account of these archi- 
tectural adjuncts, which run up to the ceiling and 
make the church so beautiful. There the people can 
sit and look at the columns during the whole of the 
sermon-time. '^ ' It is psychologically wrong for the 
preacher to allow several pianos to be placed in front 
of him, for these very things constitute psychological 
barriers. Make it a rule of your ministry, young men, 
not to have anything between you and your audience. 
h. The preacher should be as close to his people as 
possible. Personally, I have always loved to preach 
in the building that has a balcony which comes down 
close to the pulpit. The audience is, therefore, as 
close as possible to the pulpit. Another apt illustra- 
tion from Mr. Beecher will emphasize this point. In 
describing the Church of the Pilgrims in New York, 
he says: "There was formerly a space of from fifteen 
to twenty feet between the pulpit and the pews. It 
has been changed. But formerly you could see the 
preacher only down to his chest. He stood in that 
box up against the wall, and then came a space like 
the Desert of Sahara, and over on the other side it 
began to be his audience. Before he can fill up such 
a space the magnetic influence of the man is all lost. 
He has squandered one of the best natural forces of the 



^ "Yale Lectures on Preaching," Beecher (p. 72). 



Conduct of cm Evangelistic Service 325 

pulpit.'" The closer the people to the preacher, the 
greater will be the magnetism of his presence, the flash 
of his eye, the tones of his voice, the movement of 
his hands and feet, which enforce the message of 
divine truth which he brings to waiting souls. The 
orator will always be careful to be close to his people. 
In my own meetings I have frequently had the plat- 
form enlarged so that it would be nearer to the front 
seat. If I find that I can't get the seats closer to 
the pulpit, I bring the pulpit closer to the seats. A 
larger platform means more movement, and no man 
can be a real soul-winner unless he is filled with 
enthusiasm to move about somewhat in his sermon. 
Action increases interest, and there can be no action 
on a platform the size of a postage stamp. 

II. The Proper Seating of the Audience. 

To properly seat an audience for an evangelistic 
service is an art. It is an art, however, which few 
people possess. There are others who have never 
realized the importance of the seating of the people. 
It is well worth our while to make a somewhat exhaus- 
tive study of this important matter, for upon our 
knowledge of it will depend the salvation of the souls 
of men. 

In the first place, as a further emphasis of what 
we have already been saying, there should never be 
any empty seats between the preacher and the audi- 
ence, with the exception of the very front pew. Every 
empty seat means just so much power and magnetism 
of the sermon lost. In the first part of the campaign 
it will be found necessary, perhaps, to ask the members 



"Yale Lectures on Preaching," Beecher, (p, 72). 



326 New Testament Evangelism 

of the church to sit in front; but, with the growth 
of interest, it will be found increasingly easier to get 
outside people to occupy the front seats. I have 
never found it difficult to get people to come to the 
front seats if the reason for the request is made clear. 
The front seat should always be left empty for those 
who will come forward to make the good confession 
or to be received into the membership of the congre- 
gation. There are, of course, occasions when it is 
impossible to keep this seat unoccupied, but, as far as 
it is at all possible, this rule should be observed. 

(2) In the second place, there should always be 
in every meeting a large and efficient corps of ushers 
trained in the art of seating the audience. 

There are many meetings where no attention is 
paid to this matter at all, and with resulting con- 
fusion and trouble. It is an important position, this 
work of the usher, and its importance should be 
impressed upon him long before the meeting begins. 
Before the beginning of the campaign there should be 
a meeting of those who have been selected for this 
important duty. In this meeting the work should be 
carefully explained, and the territory of each usher 
in the building allotted. The following rules should 
be emphasized until they have become a definite part 
of the mental content of each usher: 

a. Never seat any one during a prayer, a special 
musical number or the invitation song. I have seen, 
in some of the largest churches in the land, flagrant 
violations of this important rule. It is bad form to 
lead some one down the aisle when the attention of 
all the audience should be upon the message which 
is being brought in the solo, or when the hearts of 



Conduct of wn Evangelistic Service 327. 

all are being lifted to the throne of grace on the 
wings of prayer. These are solemn and holy moments, 
and it is nothing short of sacrilege to mar them by 
directing some one to a seat. It has often happened 
that one coming in late has been led to a front seat 
just at the time of the singing of the invitation hymn. 
This is absolutely ridiculous, to say the least. 

&. Always fill the front seats first, leaving the very 
first one vacant all across the front of the building. 
If it is possible to do so, fill these seats with those 
who are not Christians. The closer they are to the 
minister, the greater will be the effect of the message, 
and the stronger will be the chance of securing their 
decision for the Lord. Never seat any one on the 
very front seat, if it is possible to seat them any- 
where else, unless it is pretty well known that they 
are about to decide for the King. No matter how 
large the audience is, stick to this rule with unswerv- 
ing scrupulosity. Let the people know that you are 
expecting results. The very presence of folks on the 
front seat constitutes a psychological barrier, which 
the minister will have to overcome. If room is pre- 
pared for the converts, the people will believe with 
you that there will be answers to the invitation, and 
this very faith will go far in creating a spirit of 
expectancy, which will make it easy for men and 
women to do their duty. 

c. As far as possible, seat the members of the 
church in the back of the building or in the back or 
side rooms. This should always be done on Sunday 
nights or on occasions when the crowd is larger than 
usual. It should always be the aim of the usher 
to get the minister and those who are to be converted 



328 New Testament Evangelism 

as close together as possible. It is always easier for 
a man to walk a few feet than to walk the whole 
distance of the aisle. Whenever a balcony is used, as 
far as possible avoid seating any prospective member 
of the kingdom in it. It takes three times the energy 
to bring a man forward from the balcony that it 
would take to bring him from the first few seats. It 
has been my own experience that very few come from 
the balcony or back rooms, anyway. 

d. If necessity demands that members be seated 
in the front of the building, they should always be 
seated in the middle of the seat. I have many times 
seen some good old saint stand in the end of the seat 
between some trembling sinner and the aisle, and sing 
the invitation song with power, while all the time he 
was constituting a very effective blockade to the very 
sinner whom he would save. One such amusing inci- 
dent is fresh in my mind. In a meeting in a church 
in the State of "Washington, I noticed a man and 
wife who attended the service every night for five 
weeks. The woman was a very stout person, weighing 
some two hundred and twenty-five pounds. She was 
a member of the church, and very devoted and faith- 
ful in her work for the Master. Her husband was 
not a Christian, but he was interested in the message, 
and had attended consistently. I noticed, however, that 
he always sat in the middle of the seat, while his wife 
occupied the position on the end. She would stand 
during the song of invitation, and sing and weep. 
She was so anxious for her husband to come to Christ. 
If he had desired to come, however, he would have 
been forced to push her out of the way, or to climb 
up over the seat in order to come to the front, for 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 329 

when she was standing she blocked the seat so that 
no human being could ever get out of it. I asked 
the assistant pastor of the church to call up the 
good woman one evening just before the service. The 
following conversation took place: 

Brother T : "Sister S , I just wanted to 

ask you if you would like to see your husband in the 
church." An astonished reply came back over the 

wire. "Why, Brother T , I do not understand 

you! Want my husband to come to Christ? Why, 
I have been praying for him for more than twenty 
years. ' ' 

Brother T : "Well, now, honestly, Sister S , 

do you mean it? Do you really want to see him a 
Christian?" This time the reply was indignant: 

"Why, Brother T , I do not understand you at 

all. I have been working and praying and doing all 
that I know how to do to get him to obey the Lord, 
and here you insult me by asking me such a ques- 
tion." She began to weep. 

Brother T : "Well, Sister S , if you really 

mean it, and would really like to see S in the 

kingdom, get out of the end of the seat and give 
him a chance." She slammed up the receiver of the 

telephone, but that evening I noticed that S 

was on the end of the seat and his wife was on the 

inside. Two nights later S came down the aisle 

and made the good confession and was baptized. He 
had been kept out of the church for twenty years 
because his wife sat in the end of the seat. 

e. It should be the place of the ushers to watch 
all dogs and cats which may at times feel religious 
enough to enter the house of the Lord. I know of 



330 New Testament Evangelism 

nothing that I fear more than a religious dog or cat. 
"Whenever a cat or dog gets the church-going fever, 
something is sure to happen. If one howls in the 
service, it always chooses the climax of the sermon 
as the proper time and place. The ushers should see 
that all such attendants are barred from the meeting. 

/. If the church building is small, and there is no 
place provided for the care of small children during 
the service, the usher should seat mothers with small 
babies in the back of the house or near the door, 
where they can retire easily and quietly if the child 
should make a disturbance. It is wrong to subject a 
mother to the embarrassment of having to leave the 
front part of the building with a crying baby in her 
arms, while the indignant looks of the audience fol- 
low her. A quiet, tactful usher can be of great 
assistance just here, if he knows how to approach the 
mother and show her the right place. Occasionally 
there are mothers who persist in remaining in the 
building, no matter how much noise the child makes, 
but this number is becoming smaller as the years go 
by, as mothers are trained in the care of children in 
the house of God. 

g. Never seat any person in the front part of the 
house during the sermon. This is frequently done, 
and at the cost of attention and interest on the part 
of the audience. After the sermon begins every eye 
should be kept on the speaker and every ear inclined 
to the message. To bring some one down the aisle to 
the front of the house immediately attracts attention 
which should be given to the proclamation of the 
truth. It is the business of the usher to keep his 
eyes open for late comers, and see to it that no such 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 331 

mistake is made, but that they are piloted into some 
seat in the back part of the building. 

It is always a good plan to have a meeting of 
the members of the church in the first part of the 
campaign, and explain to them their duties to the 
ushers. If a clear explanation of the psychological 
effects of proper seating is made, it will be found 
that the people are willing to co-operate with the 
ushers, and thus much confusion and misunderstand- 
ing is avoided. I have ever found that the best 
way in the world to get along with folks is to take 
them frankly into your confidence and ask their help. 
They will never be slow to give it to the man who 
comes to them in this spirit. 

III. The Entrance of the Chokus. 

(1) I have always believed that the chorus should 
enter the choir loft to the accompaniment of music. 

The playing of the organ or piano will have a ten- 
dency to get the people in the proper mood for the 
beginning of the service. I have attended meetings 
in which this plan was not followed, but the choir 
took their places just as soon as they arrived. This 
is sometimes unavoidable in large union meetings, 
where there are hundreds in the chorus, but in the 
average church a nice, quiet entrance can be made. 
It is much more dignified and much more in keeping 
with the spirit of the occasion. 

(2) When should the evangelist come to the plat- 
form? 

This seems an insignificant question, but it is of 
importance. There have been evangelists in the past 
who believed that a greater psychological effect could 



332 New Testament Evangelism 

be secured if they entered in state just before the 
time for the sermon to begin. It has always seemed 
to me, however, that this position smacked of egotism 
and a desire to show off. The real New Testament 
evangelist desires to avoid all such attempts to draw 
attention to himself, rather than to the business which 
he has in hand, the business of winning men to the 
Lord, whom to know aright is life eternal. The evan- 
gelist should enter immediately preceding or following 
the entrance of the chorus. He should be in the song 
service, for this service will not only prepare the 
audience for the reception of the sermon, but it will 
prepare him for its delivery. I have found in my 
own experience that frequently a song service would 
fill me with a feeling of exaltation which it was 
impossible to secure in any other way. 

(3) Where should the pastor of the church be 
during the first part of the service? 

The ideal place for him until just before the prayer 
is at the door, meeting the people and speaking words 
of encouragement and exhortation to those who are 
close to the point of decision. There is no better place 
than this for him to be, and, if all our ministers would 
learn this, it would mean hundreds and thousands of 
additions each year. Just before the prayer the min- 
ister can take his place upon the platform. 

(4) The song service. 

In another place we have considered the song 
service and the music of the meeting at some length. 
It is our wish here to refer to it but briefly. Gener- 
ally speaking, the song service, prayers and announce- 
ments — in short, all the service preliminary to the ser- 
mon — should not consume more than thirty minutes. 



Conduct of cm Evangelistic Service 333 

Most evangelistic services are too long. An hour and 
a half is long enough for the average service of 
this kind. If the meeting begins at seven-thirty, it 
should be over by nine o'clock. This rule can not 
always be followed, for there are times when great 
interest requires more time. If men and women are 
responding to the invitation song, it is the business 
of the preacher to continue the invitation and reap 
the precious sheaves. As a rule, however, if the 
people are allowed to go to their homes early, they 
will return to the service the next night. If they 
are kept out late, they will not come consistently, 
and it is to be remembered that it is the consistent 
hearing which brings results. Five songs, or at the 
most six, will be sufficient for the first part of the 
service. If the song service is prolonged beyond a 
certain limit, the people are tired and unresponsive 
when it comes time to sing the invitation. The ser- 
vice in song is not an entertainment, but it is a prepa- 
ration of the people for the message which is to be 
delivered. It should, therefore, be directed in an 
enthusiastic, dignified manner. There is nothing which 
will so soften the heart and unify the consciousness 
of the people like the enthusiastic singing of great 
gospel songs. 

(5) The prayers of a meeting. 

How much the success of the meeting depends 
upon prayer! Not only must the evangelist be a man 
of prayer, a man whose whole life is filled with 
prayer, but the members of the church must be 
praying men and women, or there will never be 
created the atmosphere in which it is easy for the 
sinner to confess his faith in the Lord and begin the 



334 New Testament Evangelism 

new life. In this section, however, we must confine 
ourselves to the public prayers in the service itself. 

In the first place, the one who conducts the service 
should be very careful in his selection of the one 
who is to lead the prayer. Many a good service has 
been spoiled by the prayers which were offered. It 
is poor psychology, indeed, to follow a great and 
enthusiastic song service, one in which the people have 
been lifted to the very heights of exaltation, with a 
poor, weak prayer. The evangelist should know that 
the one upon whom he calls knows how to pray. The 
prayer should be offered with as much enthusiasm 
and earnestness as is put into the songs or the preach- 
ing of the sermon. There is a certain tone throughout 
the service which must be kept to the same high level, 
and that level must not be lost in the prayer. If it 
is known that a certain man is long-winded in prayer, 
he should be avoided, for he is sure to be filled with 
enthusiasm by the song service, and he is liable to 
take out that enthusiasm in a longer prayer than 
usual. 

Regarding the position of the prayer in the service, 
no definite rule can be given. It is a pretty good 
plan, however, to have about three rousing evangelistic 
songs first. These songs will secure the proper unity 
of consciousness, the proper spirit for the prayer. 
The last song before the prayer can be a trifle more 
devotional in nature than those which have preceded 
it. It is a good plan, also, to have the audience to 
repeat the chorus two, or even three, times softly as 
they stand for the prayer. The people are thus 
solemnized for the solemn moment when the throne 
of grace is approached. The singer should be careful 



Conduct of cm Evangelistic Service 335 

to avoid all humor just preceding the prayer. I 
remember well one very fine young man who told a 
funny story just before the prayer. The whole mean- 
ing and spirit of the prayer was lost in the gale of 
laughter which swept the audience. The thoughts of 
all should be lifted to things high and holy if the 
proper attitude is to be attained for the prayer. 

As to the number of prayers in a service, it is also 
difficult to lay down any hard-and-fast rule. This 
must always be a matter of personal taste. One of 
the best plans to follow is to make the service as 
simple as possible. If this plan is adhered to, gener- 
ally speaking, two or three prayers will be sufficient. 
There will be the regular evening prayer, the prayer 
for tliose who have responded to the invitation and 
the prayer of dismissal. This plan can be varied so 
that variety may be secured, for any service to be 
long interesting must be endlessly various. In the 
place of the evening prayer, for instance, there can be 
several short prayers offered by the elders or some 
conscrated members of the congregation. At other 
times the audience can stand and the song leader 
can lead them in several old hymns which breathe the 
prayer spirit. I remember that this plan was used 
with great effect in one of my own Southern meetings. 
The audience stood with bowed heads, for perhaps 
ten minutes, singing some of the old hymns which 
had long expressed the heart sentiments of the saints 
of God. To the objection which may arise just here 
in some of your minds, that to have the people stand 
for such a prayer will tire them and will conse- 
quently nullify the desired effect, it is only necessary 
to answer that whenever a thing is made interesting 



33C New Testament Evangelism 

the people are less liable to become tired. This can 
be made so interesting that none will think of becom- 
ing weary. 

Concerning the custom which is considerably wide- 
spread in our brotherhood to-day of offering a prayer, 
either just preceding or just following the evening 
offering, it is well to note that such a plan is not 
good form during an evangelistic meeting. Where it 
is repeated frequently it soon becomes a perfunctory 
thing without meaning. It is better, therefore, not 
to follow the custom which degenerates into the com- 
monplace. There is just as much danger of too much 
prayer as there is of having too little. 

(6) The announcements. 

There is no part of an evangelistic service where 
more care must be exercised than in the matter of 
making announcements. As a general rule, it is well 
for the evangelist himself to make the announcements. 
He knows what sermons are to be preached, what the 
plan of the campaign is to be; in short, he is the 
general, and has the direction of the whole affair in 
his own hands. This is not always best, for there are 
times when the minister can make the announcements 
with good effect. 

a. In the first place, the announcements should 
always be as short as possible. A certain amount 
will always be necessary, but these should consume 
as little time as possible. I remember one pastor 
friend, and he is one of the really outstanding min- 
isters in the church of Christ in America to-day, who 
would take up from fifteen minutes to half an hour 
with announcements. This was not only bad form 
and extremely poor psychology, but it was positively 



Conduct of cm Evangelistic Service 337 

boresome. The people were tired and restless before 
he was done, and were ill prepared for the message. 
The first rule, and one which must always be followed 
with rigid care, is this: Be brief in announcements. 
Long^vindedness Avill kill the service. 

h. Announcements should not only be brief, but 
they should always be given with enthusiasm. 
Announcements given in a half-hearted, listless man- 
ner will never fill people with the enthusiasm neces- 
sary to a continued interest in the work of saving 
souls. One pastor friend, who was a very enthusiastic 
and forceful speaker, always made his announcements 
in a slow, conversational tone of voice. The audience 
would lose the exalted enthusiasm which they had 
gained through the enlivening song service. The same 
spirit and movement must be kept through the 
announcements as has obtained throughout the rest 
of the meeting. The announcements should always 
be made in a bright, snappy and enthusiastic manner. 
The one making them should himself be filled with 
the spirit of the meeting, and that spirit must show 
in his voice and manner of expressing himself. If 
this is his attitude, he will make the people want to 
come to the service again. I know one preacher in 
a southern Texas city who, by his very announcements, 
could brighten and enliven the meeting. He always 
had some bright saying ready for that time. He 
continually boosted the evangelist and singer, and it 
was not long until the members of the church, and the 
friends as well, thought that they had the greatest 
privilege of their lives in being permitted to attend 
such a meeting. Such a minister can always make 
a meeting a success. 



338 New Testament Evangelism 

c. The announcement period is the time in the ser- 
vice for the humor. There will be some of this, of 
course, in the song service, but the period of announce- 
ments lends itself naturally and logically to humor. 
No meeting will last for a considerable time, and be 
successful, without some humor. There must be the 
lights and shadows in every service, and this time is 
pre-eminently the one for the lights. I was acquainted 
with one evangelist who made the terrible mistake 
of having his fun about the close of his sermon. 
Many times have I known him to ruin the invitation 
by telling some excruciatingly funny story just before 
his cdhclusion. While there are times when humor 
can be used with telling effect in the first part of a 
sermon, there is never any place for it in the last of 
the message. The best plan is to make the time of 
announcement the time for a funny story. It can be 
used here as a rest for the audience after the stren- 
uosity of several rousing evangelistic songs. It is 
also the logical place for the humor, if the offering 
follows the announcements, as it should do. If people 
are in a good humor, it is far easier for them to 
follow the Scriptural injunction and give cheerfully. 

(7) The special musical number. 

In the lecture on evangelistic music I have dealt 
with this subject to some extent, and it is my pur- 
pose merely to mention it here. It is the relationship 
which the special number bears to the whole evan- 
gelistic service which concerns us in this connection. 

a. The place of the number in the service. If I 
may be permitted to express my own preference just 
here, I would say that my favorite place is always 
just following the evening prayer and just preceding 



Conduct of (Ml Evangelistic Service 339 

the announcements. It is poor psychology to follow 
a special number with a congregational song without 
any break in between. If the song is sung following 
the prayer and just preceding the announcements, it 
is both preceded and followed by a break. The song 
evangelist, if he is the one who sings the special — and, 
as a rule, the major portion of this work will always 
fall upon him — has a breathing spell before his song 
after the fatiguing work of leading an enthusiastic 
song service and a rest after the special during the 
announcements and offering before the next congrega- 
tional song. There are times when the song can be 
sung with good effect just preceding the sermon. 
Care must be taken, however, that it is the right song 
and sung by the right person. I have generally found 
that the average song evangelist would rather sing his 
special in the first part of the service before he is 
fatigued by leading the congregational songs. 

(8) The sermon. 

In the lecture on *'The Preaching in the Meet- 
ing" we have considered at length the sermon as the 
center of evangelisttic effort. It is not our purpose 
here to reconsider it from that standpoint, but, as in 
the case of the special number in song, merely to look 
at it in its relation to the evangelistic service. 

The sermon and invitation song are the climax 
of the whole service. Everything must be focused to 
the end of bringing men to the Saviour. The sermon 
is not secondary to the music of the meeting; it is the 
first thing, and must have the first place. The first 
part of the service should be so timed that the audi- 
ence is brought up to just the right place, so that the 
sermon will be given with the greatest and most 



340 New Testament Evangelism 

telling effect. If the preliminary service is unduly 
long, the audience will not be in the proper frame of 
mind for the message. One can do nothing at all with 
a tired audience. It should be the aim of the evan- 
gelist to get to the invitation song as soon as possible, 
without wasting any time in things which are not 
conducive to the object of the service. 

(9) The invitation. 

To the time of invitation all the service looks for- 
ward. Everything in the meeting, from the time of the 
first congregational song to the close of the exhortation, 
has the invitation in mind. How can we make the 
invitation song the most effective? "What shall we 
do so that the invitation will come with the greatest 
degree of force to the unconverted man? These are 
the questions which are constantly in the mind of the 
real New Testament evangelist. 

a. The preparation for the invitation. 

Before the sermon announcements should at times 
be made in which the solemnity of the invitation is 
emphasized, and a request made that no one shall 
leave the building during the singing of that hymn. 
It will be found to be sufficient to make this announce- 
ment only a few times, requesting firmly that the 
invitation be respected as the great time of decision 
on the part of some soul seeking to know the Lord. 
Many an invitation song has been ruined because 
proper care was not taken in this very important 
matter. We have before noted the seriousness of 
seating any one just preceding the singing of the 
hymn. If the ushers are well trained in their duties, 
there will be no danger from this quarter. 

h. The singing of the invitation hymn. 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 341 

If there is any song in the service which should 
be sung with enthusiasm and earnestness, it is surely 
this one. Organists and pianists and all other musi- 
cians should be all ready, so that at the given signal 
they can all begin together. An invitation song 
which drags will ruin the spirit of the whole occasion. 
I have always insisted in my own work that I know 
what the song shall be, so that I may refer to it for 
just a moment before I ask the audience to stand. 
In this way there is no danger of the wrong song 
being sung or of some grievous mistake being made 
at that intense moment. It is almost an utter impos- 
sibility to overcome a mistake made during the invita- 
tion song. I recall an experience in a meeting in 
Northern California. The building was packed to the 
doors, and the interest was intense. The sermon that 
night had come to a great climax, and the spirit of 
the whole meeting was just right for a wonderful 
ingathering. One could feel it in the air. I noticed 
that the organist was listening with more than usual 
interest. When the time came at last for the invita- 
tion song, and I spoke the words, ''Let us stand and 
sing,'* she turned promptly and began to play with 
all her might. The choir began to sing, but alas! 
they sang one tune while she played another. You 
can imagine the awful shock to the sensibilities of the 
audience. The people gasped and looked astonished. 
By the time the mix-up had been straightened out the 
whole effect of the message had been ruined. Just 
one little mistake, but it cost the service. After an 
intense half-hour or forty minutes of concentration on 
one theme, an audience can not stand such a shock. 
Every care must be exercised in order that the invita- 



342 New Testament Evangelism 

tion song should be sung in its most persuasive 
manner. 

I have found that it is a fine thing to take a 
chorus into one's confidence and explain the psychol- 
ogy of the invitation song. If one does this, he will 
find that the choir will be more than anxious to help 
in every way to make the song a success. 

IV. Receiving the New Additions. 

(1) Taking the good confession. 

The good confession is an observance distinctive to 
our people. Great care should be exercised in taking 
the good confession from one who comes forward in a 
meeting for the purpose of thus expressing his desire 
to become a servant of the Lord. So often it is made 
a perfunctory act without any of the real spirit which 
should fill one at such a moment. The minister is so 
familiar with divine things that he is in grave danger 
of making this act inexpressive of its real significance 
and meaning. Before he asks the one who is to make 
the confession to stand, it is always well to make a 
brief talk about the meaning of the good confession 
and of the act in coming forward to align one's self 
with the church of the Lord. It can be made a time 
of solemn consecration to the new convert, and, unless 
it does do just this thing, it has to a large degree 
failed in the very purpose for which it is required. 
The majority of those who come to-day desire an 
experience of some nature to make them feel that they 
belong to the Lord Jesus, and the solemnity with 
which this confession is taken will go a long way 
in bringing to them their desire. It should never be 
hurried, but a calm, joyous deliberation should char- 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 343 

acterize it, for such deliberation will impress not 
only the convert with the importance of the step 
which he has taken, but it will deepen the consecration 
of the members of the church who witness the glorious 
act. A prayer should always follow the confession, 
a prayer of consecration and thanksgiving. This is 
something which should never be left out. It is true 
that it is frequently done, but its neglect is always 
a sad mistake. Neglect not to make this moment as 
solemn and sacred as possible. 

(2) Receiving members who come to transfer their 
membership. 

The formal act of introducing the members from 
other congregations, for really this is all that it is, 
should be made solemn and impressive, for in many 
cases such a transfer of membership is really a recon- 
version. Many have neglected the house of the Lord 
perhaps for years, and they are really coming home 
again. Their reception should be made an occasion 
of great joy and of reconsecration. It is poor form to 
have the congregation stand while the hand of con- 
gratulation is being extended. It is a good thing for 
the members of the church to see the one who has 
come, and learn to know who he is. If the audience 
is standing, only those who are near can see, and the 
very purpose of the introduction is defeated. After 
the service is over the members of the church should 
come immediately and welcome those who have re- 
sponded. This is often neglected in these modern days, 
and it is a sad neglect. The minister must see to it 
that the people are rightly taught regarding their duty 
in these things, for they do not know, and they need 
to be instructed. 



344 New Testament Evangelism 

(3) Receiving a crowd of converts en masse. 

The practice of receiving a crowd of converts 
en masse has grown up with the corresponding growth 
in the size of evangelistic meetings. As the meetings 
have grown, greater numbers of men and women have 
responded to the invitation of the gospel. It is a 
common thing these days for as many as twenty-five, 
or even fifty, people to come forward at one time 
to confess their faith in Jesus Christ. Now, the 
question is, Is it proper to receive these people all at 
once, or should the time be taken to receive each one 
of them individually? It is always true that the 
more individual attention one is given at the solemn 
moment of conversion, the better will be his start in 
the new life. It will perhaps mean more to him if 
his confession is taken individually. However, there 
are other considerations which ,profoundly influence 
the action of the minister at a time like this. If a 
talk is made to each one personally, it may mean 
another half -hour, or even longer. I remember a case 
where the minister took up almost forty-five minutes 
in receiving those who came. The audience became 
restless and tired, and the whole affair was not half 
so impressive and meaningful as it might have been 
had he done the work with greater celerity. In 
holding a meeting one must constantly think of the 
next service and how a prolongation of the present 
service will affect those which are to follow. It is 
always proper, therefore, to receive the new people 
with as much dispatch and celerity consistent with the 
solemnity and meaning of the moment. In a word, 
we mean that at times it is right and proper to 
receive a number of confessions together. 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 345 

Confessions of faith en masse should never be 
taken by the minister unless he knows just what he is 
doing and how to do it. In the first place, he should, 
in the little talk which he will make preceding the 
asking of the great and solemn question, always make 
it clear just what he wants them to do. It is a 
mistake, and one which will make the confession 
ragged and embarrassed, if he simply asks them the 
question without first telling them what to say. There 
must be a uniform answer to the question, so that all 
of them may say it together. For illustration, some- 
thing like the following plan may be used with great 
effectiveness : 

Minister — After making a talk on the beauty of 
the confession and of its meaning, he could say: 
''Now, I am going to ask you, who have come for- 
ward at this hour, to answer the greatest questior^ 
that has ever been asked of the sons and daughters 
of men. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of the 
living: God and your Saviour, you will answer clearly 
and distinctly 'I do.' After stating the question, I 
will ask, 'Do you believe thisT You are then to 
answer. 

' ' Do each of you believe with all of your heart that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and 
your Saviour? Do you believe this?" The converts 
in unison: "I do." 

After the confession has been made, the minister 
can then make a little talk of congratulation and 
exhortation to those who have come, and at its close 
lead in a few words of prayer. This plan will make 
the service much more beautiful and impressive than 
if it is done in a haphazard manner. 



346 New Testament Evangelism 

A second plan, which is often used with good 
effect, is that of asking each one individually to make 
the confession, without any comment on the part of 
the minister, until all have made it. After this he 
can make his talk to all of them collectively. This 
plan can be used unless the number is so large that 
its employment would consume much unnecessary time. 

Another plan, which I have seen used by a Ken- 
tucky pastor friend of mine, is the following. 

Minister — "Now, I wish each one of you here 
to-night to speak aloud your first name.'^ Beginning 
then, at the right, he would ask each one to repeat 
aloud the first name. 

* ' Now, after me, I want you to repeat the follow- 
ing: 'I do believe [the converts here repeated the 
words] that Jesus is the Christ [another period of 
repetition] the Son of the living God [another repeti- 
tion] and my personal Saviour [repetition of the last 
words].' '' After this confession in unison a talk was 
made and then a tender prayer of consecration was 
offered. 

Whatever plan is used in receiving the new people, 
whether they come by confession of faith and baptism 
or by primary obedience, it should always be remem- 
bered that plenty of time must be taken, that all that 
is said should be uttered so all present can hear the 
words, and that the sacredness of the moment should 
be emphasized by every word, look and gesture. This 
will impress the people with the act as genuine. 

V. The Baptismal Service. 

(1) The place of the baptismal service in the 
evangelistic meeting. 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 347 

It would seem strange that we should ask the 
question, ''Has a baptismal service a place in the 
evangelistic meeting?" for the majority of us would 
answer without hesitation with an emphatic affirma- 
tive. But it is a question which needs to be discussed 
in a course of this nature, not only because of the 
fact that there are some who do not understand the 
importance of the place which baptism should occupy, 
but also because of the slipshod, slovenly manner in 
which this beautiful ordinance of our Lord is admin- 
istered in those intense days of revival, when the 
sensibilities of the people are extraordinarily keen and 
easily offended. There is no better way to teach the 
importance of this command of our Lord for men 
to be baptized than to be constantly baptizing some 
one. The grandest and most convincing sermon on 
the subject of baptism is a beautiful baptism itself. 
If it is possible to do so, there should be a baptismal 
service each evening of the meeting. It is always a 
mistake to save up the candidates for one service. It 
is wrong, because of the fact that the very importance 
of baptism in the plan of salvation demands that it 
be attended to without delay, and it is positively 
criminal on the part of those who are teachers of the 
truth to keep any candidate waiting one hour. As a 
people, we have ever preached the absolute necessity 
of baptism if one would be accepted of the Lord. 
In unmistakable tones we have contended for baptism 
as an essential to salvation and the remission of sins, 
and yet many times we have acted as though we 
thought it was of small importance. There is nothing 
which so attracts an audience of interested hearers 
as to have it known throughout the community that 



348 New Testament Evangelism 

people are being baptized at each service. The teach- 
ing value is lost if there are but one or two services 
in the whole campaign, or if these are performed in 
the afternoons when the crowds of people can not 
witness them. As a rule, it is not good to have bap- 
tisms at the morning service. The best time is always 
in the evening, and after the sermon and invitation. 
There are places where the baptisms are performed in 
the first part of the service, but, as a rule, this makes 
the audience wait too long for the sermon, and they 
are consequently not in the right mood when the 
invitation is extended. The unifying value of the 
song service, of which we have spoken before, is lost 
to a large degree when the major part of the pre- 
liminary service is taken up with the baptisms. The 
finest impression which can be made, from the psycho- 
logical standpoint, is that one when some one accepts 
the message and is the same hour baptized into the 
Lord. 

One thing about obedience in the New Testament 
times was the fact that those who accepted the Lord 
were baptized the same hour. If we are striving for a 
restoration of the church of the New Testament, and 
of the methods of evangelism which obtained in New 
Testament times, certainly we should emphasize this 
custom of baptizing the candidate, whenever possible, 
at the same time that he makes his confession of faith. 
Every church of Christ should have baptismal robes 
and other necessary clothing, so that any candidate 
desiring to do so could go the same hour and obey 
the Lord. The baptistery should always be ready, 
so that such a service would not be delayed. The 
teaching of the evangelist and of the pastor also 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 349 

should ever keep before the people the beauty of 
instant obedience. The proper instruction on the sub- 
ject will bring great and lasting results for the king- 
dom. It is dangerous and unscriptural to allow unnec- 
essary time to elapse between the confession and the 
baptism. There are too many enemies of the King 
who are anxious to tamper with the one who has 
newly confessed his faith. 

(2) The necessity for a beautiful and impressive 
baptismal service. 

To any one who has ever watched a large number 
of ministers baptize, as is the privilege of the general 
evangelist, the need of instruction in the art of bap- 
tizing correctly and beautifully is very clear. There 
are very few men who really know how to baptize. 
How many times have I trembled during a baptismal 
service because of the crude, hurried manner in which 
the minister performed the sacred rite. I have seen 
services where the candidate would gasp and strangle, 
and even cry aloud, while every one in the audience 
who realized the beautiful significance of the act was 
filled with consternation and humiliation. Those who 
should have been impressed with the sacredness of the 
act were disgusted and driven further away from 
obedience. It is nothing less than criminal not to 
know how to perform this act with reverence and 
impressive beauty. Here, again, can our schools be 
justly arraigned for their lack of the practical in the 
training for the ministry. They have been so intent 
upon seeing that the young candidate learned how to 
preach the message, how to prove to the sons and 
daughters of men that they should be baptized, that 
they have overlooked the necessity of enforcing that 



350 New Testament Evangelism 

message with a proper performance of tlie act itself. 
It is unpardonable for anything to happen which will 
at all mar the reverence, the sacredness and the 
impressiveness of the service. If something does hap- 
pen, ninety-nine times out of a hundred it is the 
fault of the baptist himself, and might have been 
prevented if he had done his duty. I have known 
evangelistic meetings which have owed at least fifty 
per cent, of their success to the fine baptizing of the 
minister. This may seem like somewhat of an exag- 
geration, but it is the solemn truth. Baptizing is an 
art, and one in which the soul- winner and the minister 
of the local church should be well trained. Proper 
care in this most important institution will go far 
in bringing success to the minister's work. 

(3) Some suggestions for an impressive baptismal 
service. 

a. See that the water is properly heated. It is not 
any more Scriptural to take people down into ice-cold 
water to baptize them than to have the water warmed 
to the same temperature as the air. It is wicked to 
take little children and delicate women down into 
water which is cold and will shock them. Not only 
so, but, if the water is warm, the chances of the can- 
didate crying out and making the act ridiculous will 
be reduced seventy-five per cent. Such precaution is 
not only right, therefore, from sanitary reasons, but 
from artistic as well. 

t. Always instruct the candidates before going 
into the water. It is absolutely wrong from every 
standpoint to wait until after they have been taken 
down into the water to tell them what to do as 
regards their position during the service. It is always 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 351 

well, after all are ready, to call the candidates 
together and show them how to hold their hands and 
how to stand after going into the water. They should 
also be told to be very deliberate, both in going into 
the water and coming out. It is well to tell them 
to look up and to avoid anything which would in any 
way detract from the solemnity and beauty of the 
act. After the proper instructions have been given, 
the administrator should offer a brief prayer. Can- 
didates thus instructed will appreciate the act in their 
own lives much more, and an appreciative candidate 
will thus be ready to make his baptism beautiful and 
impressive. He will preach a sermon by his quiet, 
solemn attitude. 

c. Always be very deliberate in every act of the 
service. If there is any rule which should be called 
the first one in artistic and beautiful administration 
of the ordinance, it is this one: Be deliberate; take 
plenty of time. A hurried baptism loses all its beauty 
and significance. Let us always try to remember a 
burial and a resurrection, and that the attitude which 
would characterize us at a burial should be ours at a 
baptismal service. 

(a) Be deliberate in going into the water, and in 
coming out of it after the service is over. How 
many times have we seen the minister go splashing 
into the water with a great noise! After the service 
was over, and the last candidate had gone out of the 
water, he then splashed and thundered out. Such 
crudities will shock the sensibilities of the best people, 
and will be indicative of a lack of realization of the 
solemnity of the service on the part of the minister 
himself. 



352 New Testament Evangelism 

(&) Be deliberate in pronouncing the words of the 
baptismal formula. I have often heard the admin- 
istrator shout those sacred words as though he were 
crying an auction sale. The words of the formula 
should be pronounced slowly and quietly, with just 
enough force to be clearly heard by all the audience. 
The manner in which these words are said will go 
far in impressing those who hear and witness with the 
meaning of the act itself. 

(c) Be deliberate in lowering the candidate into 
the water and in raising him out of it. I know a 
pastor friend who was the best baptist I have ever 
seen. He was so quiet and deliberate in his adminis- 
tration of baptism that there was not a sound as the 
candidate was lowered into the water. He would 
raise the one baptized up from the water with the 
same quiet skill so that the audience heard no sound of 
splashing water. I have seen people weep as they 
witnessed such a scene. This is one act in which it 
is almost impossible to be too slow. The distance 
between impressiveness and ridiculousness is measured 
by the one word, ''deliberation.'* It is absolutely 
criminal to baptize people like one would maul rails. 
Many a baptism has impressed me, as I looked at it 
purely from the side of its administration, as a duck- 
ing rather than a burial and a resurrection. We 
would not slam a body of a departed loved one into 
the grave, and neither should we slam the body of 
one who is dead to sin into the watery grave. 

d. If possible, always have some music during the 
service. The best plan that I have known is that of 
having the organist play softly during the whole ser- 
vice, not ceasing until the last prayer is finished. 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 353 

Such old hymns as "There Is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood'* or ''Rock of Ages," played quietly during 
the service, will add much to its impressiveness and 
power. While the minister is administering the ordi- 
nance, the evangelist can sit near the baptistery and 
quote the Scriptures which deal with the subject. 
This can be done without the music from the organ 
interfering. In fact, the beautiful scene, the solemn 
quotation of the word of the holy Book and the soft, 
inspiring music will create an atmosphere which will 
make men better and lead them closer to the Master, 
at whose command the act is performed. Such a bap- 
tism is a sermon. 

e. One other suggestion which will be of great 
value, though not an absolute necessity to the service 
as are those which we have already noted. In a 
Middle West campaign this suggestion was first 
brought to my attention. A cross of wood, upon 
which were seven red lights, was placed in the back 
of the baptistery. As the organ began to play some 
of the old hymns and the minister started down into 
the water, the lights in the building were all turned 
off with the exception of those in the cross. In the 
mellow light of a cross, suggesting the blood of the 
Redeemer, the candidate was led down into the waters 
of obedience. It was not strange that people came 
for miles to witness such a beautifully impressive 
scene as this one was. Not only did they come, but 
they wanted to be baptized. I have never found it 
very difficult to induce people to be baptized when 
they see it well done by the one whose delightful and 
reverent task it is to administer this command of the 
Masten 



354 New Testament Evangelism 

f. When several members of one family are to be 
baptized the same hour, it is an attractive plan to 
lead them all into the baptistery at once. This can 
frequently be done in the case of husband and wife 
or of mother and daughter, or even of brothers or 
sisters. I have several times had the pleasure of 
baptizing two people at once. This can be done with 
€£ise by a strong man, and it not only is a nice expe- 
rience for those who are baptized to remember, but it 
always makes a profound impression upon the audi- 
ence. 

g. Always use a handkerchief, and hold it tightly 
over the face of the candidate. Be sure that it is 
over the nose and mouth, so that no water can enter. 
It takes away the possibility that there may be noise 
and strangling on the part of the candidate. Person- 
ally, I always place my own hand over the nose and 
mouth, and hold it there until the candidate has 
been raised from the liquid depths. After he is per- 
fectly quiet I then release him, but not until then. 
There is no excuse for any minister allowing a candi- 
date to cry out or to be strangled even the least bit. 
If anything of the kind happens, he, and he alone, 
is at fault. 

h. In lowering the candidate into the water always 
stand back of him a pace or so. Never make the 
mistake of standing just even with him, for, if you 
do, he may pull you down into the water, and the 
whole act will appear awkward and out of harmony 
with its meaning. If you step back of the candidate, 
you will find that you can lift him with ease. Always 
place your hand on the back of the neck, and hold 
it tightly until the act is completed. I once saw one 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 355 

of my very best friends place the hand which should 
have gone over the face on the chest, and the one 
which should have gone to the back of the neck on 
the small of the back. Thus the head of the candidate 
was unsupported, and, as he was lowered, his mouth 
was opened, and the water poured in, with the result 
that the solemnity of the baptism was spoiled. 

VI. After Meetings. 

(1) After meetings of the members of the church. 
It is a splendid thing for a campaign to have 

frequent meetings of the members of the church after 
the regular evangelistic service. In these meetings 
the things that are of vital interest to the campaign 
can be discussed. The members of the church need 
such meetings, in order that they may be made more 
enthusiastic for the work. I have found, in many 
years of experience, that the very best way to get 
close to the heart of the church is through these 
very meetings, where, as a big family, we could talk 
over the plans for the campaign together. At this 
meeting it is well to have the minister make an 
enthusiastic speech, exhorting the members to be faith- 
ful and energetic in their work for the meeting. 
Occasionally the names of certain prospects may be 
considered, and work along the line of reaching them 
apportioned. 

(2) After meetings of prospects and those interested 
in becoming Christians. 

Once in awhile a meeting of this nature is valuable. 
It can not be followed with too great frequency, 
because people will become weary, and the invitation 
will lose some of its force. I have found it valuable 



356 New Testament Evangelism 

in repeating certain doctrinal sermons, which should 
be presented several times in a meeting, but which 
can not be given in the regular service. For illus- 
tration, one finds that a message of the relationship 
between the law and the gospel is a matter about 
which the majority of people are confused. In an 
after meeting this subject may be treated several 
times, and those who are at sea can be invited to 
remain and hear an exposition of the subject. Take 
again the subject of "Baptism." This message should 
be delivered several times in each campaign. One 
can not, however, give it several times in the meeting 
proper, but it can be given at an after service. There 
are usually many people who will remain. I have 
never tried the after meeting, following the plan 
which I have just suggested, of having some sort of 
Scriptural exposition for those who remain, with any 
but the very finest success. 

One other splendid thing about the after meeting 
which deserves attention here is the fact that it gives 
the local minister a fine chance to make a talk and 
give an exhortation. Where a minister is popular, 
and has perhaps been on the field for a long time, 
there are always many who desire to come forward 
when he gives the invitation. This is only a normal 
and natural thing, and wise is the evangelist who, 
in such cases, gives the minister the opportunity to 
reach these people. After all, the purpose of the work 
is to convert men and women, and it makes no dif- 
ference whether they come while the evangelist is 
giving the invitation, or whether it is under the 
familiar sound of the minister's voice. In an after 
meeting the minister, under the influence of the cam- 



Conduct of an Evangelistic Service 357 

paign, can give an exhortation, and have several 
additions to the church. In a Kansas meeting one 
time our own company used this plan repeatedly and 
with marked success. The minister was a popular 
man, who had been on the field for ten years. Many 
of the additions in that meeting were secured in the 
after meetings and under his exhortations. 



CONSERVING THE CONVERT 

IT is one thing to win souls to Christ, it is quite 
another thing to hold for Christ those who have 
been won. Without a doubt there is no problem 
which has caused the workers of the kingdom more 
genuine worry than that of stopping the leak in the 
church. Every year thousands who have been won 
for the Christ are lost to His cause. At a great 
expenditure of time, energy and money, we put on 
a campaign for the saving of souls, and when it 
is over we fold our hands and do nothing to keep 
those souls saved. The need for a great campaign of 
conservation, yes, and one in training the workers 
in the art of conservation, is emphasized by the ter- 
rible losses that we suffer each year. It is well known 
to those experienced in this field of endeavor that all 
the converts will not stick. There is always a loss 
due to the character of those brought in, due some- 
times, also, to the manner in which they were brought 
into the church. Jesus described their character when 
He said that they have no root. The hot sun of 
temptation or opposition soon withers their ardor, and 
they drop back into the old ways. An evangelistic 
meeting has often reminded me of the experience of 
fishing with a net. When the net is taken out of the 
water there are all kinds of fish in it. So, at the 

858 



Conserving the Convert 359 

close of a religious awakening, there are all kinds of 
folks who have been caught in the gospel net. Some 
of these will slip back into the world of sin, and while 
we are saddened by the fact, we are nevertheless 
comforted by the knowledge that this is always so, 
and that it should not, therefore, be considered a 
strange thing if it should happen in our work. How- 
ever, there are a great number of good people who 
are lost, and lost through pure neglect on the part 
of those who are responsible for their welfare. It is 
a sad indictment, but a true one, that most of those 
who are lost might have been saved to the church 
if the proper interest in them had been shown, and 
the proper care of them had been taken. 

The need for conservation is further emphasized 
by the fact that the new convert is a babe in Christ. 
His religious condition must be taken into account. 
Many times we expect too much of the one who has 
just come into the church. Everything is new and 
strange to him. Perhaps he has had a long, hard 
battle to come to a decision. Perhaps his home envi- 
ronment is not at all conducive to a strong and vigor- 
ous spiritual manhood. It may be that he has bitter 
and determined opposition at home. Perhaps behind 
him is a life of wickedness, with all the old habits 
still clinging tenaciously to him, and all the old desires 
loudly crying for satisfaction. From all this he comes 
into the new atmosphere charged with the spirit of 
Christ. He has all the characteristics of a babe, and 
needs the help and guidance of those who are godly- 
minded men and women. Now, to leave one like this 
to himself, to find his own way, and many times to 
find that way in a groping manner, to blunder and 



360 New Testament Evangelism 

fall, is a sinful neglect of our duty as those who 
above all others should be his friends and helpers. 
He will look to us. 

The need for thinking in the terms of conservation 
during the progress of the meeting is also manifest. 
There are so many details of soul-winning demanding 
the attention of pastor and evangelist, that this impor- 
tant matter is liable not to receive the consideration 
which is due it. It is apt to be postponed until after 
the meeting is over, and then amidst the cooler atmos- 
phere the attempt is made to tie the converts up with 
work. There are plans of conservation which should 
be followed during the meeting itself. There are 
things which can be done then that can be done at no 
other time. There are words that can be said then 
that can never be said with the same effect again. 
If these plans are neglected, sad consequences will 
inevitably follow. Young men, do not allow your zeal 
for. numbers for the kingdom to crowd out your desire 
to hold those who have been won through your minis- 
trations. 

We need not emphasize again tlie fact that con- 
servation, like anything else that means success for 
the kingdom of God, means work. I am afraid that 
much of the loss in the ministry can be traced back 
to the laziness of some one. If the minister is not 
willing to bend his shoulders to the task, he has no 
right to be called a minister of Christ. There is no 
place in the work of God for a lazy man. Many a 
great meeting has been lost because of the fact that 
the one upon whom the responsibility for its con- 
servation rested either did not know how to do the 
work, or was too indolent to try. 



Conserving the Convert 361 

I. Some Plans to Be Followed by the Evangelist 
During the Meeting. 

(1) A real New Testament evangelist should con. 
stantly exalt the church during the meeting. 

How many times the evangelist has spent the 
major portion of his time ridiculing the church before 
the community! It has doubtless been a popular 
thing, because it gave occasion to the outsider to scoff 
and sneer at those who were bearing the load of the 
work, and who had by their sacrifices, perhaps, 
brought that very evangelist there to preach the 
gospel. After thus spending his time in flaying the 
church, he invited men and women to become members 
of that very organization. It is my firm conviction 
that no man has the right to represent the church ^ 
of the living God unless he reverently realizes that 
she is the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy 
Spirit and the bride of our Lord. I have never been 
convinced as yet that it is the business of an evan- 
gelist to come into a community to reform the church. 
I have never known of a great meeting to be held in 
a church unless the heart of that church was right 
before God. There can not be many spiritual births 
in an atmosphere of criticism and backbiting. If 
you as ministers have no respect for the church, you 
will find that you will not be able to inspire respect 
in the hearts of your hearers. If, on the other hand, 
you continually exalt the church as the body of the 
Lord; if you impress upon men the dignity of being 
a Christian and a colaborer with God; if you speak 
with reverence of the love of Christ for the church, a 
love so great that He gave Himself up for it, that 



362 New Testament Evangelism 

"He washed it in his own precious blood" — ^you will 
make men want to come into its fellowship. Not only 
will they want to come, but, having come, they will 
be faithful and true, and all the storms of opposition 
will blow in vain, for their feet will be firmly planted 
upon the rock of ages, Christ Jesus our Lord. How 
tremendously important is the teaching element of a 
meeting. It is an old principle of psychology that 
impressions enforced by emotional experiences are 
those which remain with us the longest. In the heat 
and fire generated by a great revival of religion, what 
an opportunity presents itself for teaching that will 
live eternal in the hearts of those who hear. How 
plastic and receptive are the delicate tissues of the 
soul in these hours! The evangelist can here build 
for eternity if he is big enough to see and grasp the 
opportunity. This is the time to teach men and 
women the beauty and the absolute necessity of faith- 
fulness in habitual attendance upon the service at the 
Lord's house. Not that it means mere loyalty, noble 
though that quality may be, but that it means spir- 
itual health, yea, that it means spiritual life itself. 
And the Lord's Supper, what a chance in this to 
teach the necessity of faithfulness! The evangelist 
can teach the new convert that he has an appointment 
with his Lord and Master, and that that appointment 
must be kept. The richness of a life loyal to the 
kingdom of God, a life that will do nothing which for 
a moment would bring reproach upon the kingdom, 
that kind of a life may be builded in the wonderfuli 
awakening days of a great revival. This first teaching 
will be the foundation upon which will be erected the 
glorious superstructure of a great Christian character, 



Conserving the Convert 363 

for doctrine must ever underlie all real Christian 
living. 

(2) The New Testament evangelist should make 
it his business to tie up the new converts with the 
various organizations of the church life. 

I have noticed in my own work that those are held 
in the work who are lined up with the various church 
organizations. A strong effort should be made con- 
tinually during the meeting to get those who come 
into the church to join the Bible-school classes, the 
Endeavor societies and the missionary and benevolent 
organizations. One of the first principles to remember 
in holding the new convert is that of individualizing 
as much as possible the work of the church. In the 
church, as a whole, one man or woman is in danger 
of being lost, but this is not true in a Bible class, 
The teacher can get personally acquainted with the 
student, and can in this way get in closer personal 
touch with him. Not only so, but in the Bible school 
systematic instruction in the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of the Lord is given. The new convert is 
taught the very things he wants to know. There is 
also a social life, or there should be, attached to every 
Bible-school class, which will be invaluable in conserv- 
ing the babe in Christ. It is deplorable that in many 
places the social life of the church is really nil. It 
should be the lookout of every efficient pastor to 
try to make the church the social center for his 
people. If he can do this, much of the problem of 
holding his people, especially those who are young 
will be largely solved. In the Endeavor society the 
young people will be trained in prayer, and in speak- 
ing in public. If the new convert can become inter- 



364 New Testament Evangelism 

ested in this work, it will not be long until he is 
learning to do as the others are doing. He will 
express the faith that is in his heart, and the very 
expression of it will make that faith stronger. In 
the missionary societies the vision of the world-wide 
program of Christ will be presented, calling to the 
heroic in the heart of the new convert. As he sees 
the task, and as he learns how that task is being met, 
his soul will respond to the call, and its responses 
will be made bigger and sweeter. The responsibility 
of a mighty task will bring out the very best in him. 

Now, it is not alone the business of the preacher 
to see that the new converts are lined up with these 
organizations. Neither is it the sole business of the 
evangelist. The evangelist can announce before the 
audiences that those who have come into the church 
should join these organizations, but it is the business 
of those who are older in the faith to see that the 
invitation is personalized, and that those to whom it 
is extended accept it. Committees representing each 
class and organization in the work of the church 
should be appointed and trained in this important 
business. 

The value of the long meeting is emphasized in 
connection with the subject of the conservation of 
the convert. In the first place, the long meeting gives 
the older members an opportunity to get acquainted 
with the new converts, which is not given in the 
short emotional campaign. A short meeting, where 
there is a tremendous rush of converts, is often posi- 
tively dangerous to the very life of the church. There 
have been several such meetings in our own brother- 
hood, which have simply swamped the church. There 



Conserving the Convert 365 

were so many additions that they could not be taken 
care of, and they were lost to the cause. The long 
meeting also gives a better chance to get the new 
converts tied up with the organizations of the church 
which have for their purpose the conservation of the 
results. By the time the meeting is over, the new 
converts have become old members. They have 
attended the Bible class for several Lord's Days, and 
they begin to feel like they are part, and a very 
important part, of the church life. The long meeting 
is very much like the long pastorate; its effects are 
far more permanent than a brief emotional campaign. 

(3) The evangelist will assist in conserving the 
convert if he will try to get religious literature into 
the homes. 

It is astounding to go into the average home and 
see the kind of literature that Christian people read. 
How little of our own great and wonderful literature 
is to be found. There are many books that can be 
read with great interest and profit by the new convert 
and it should be the aim of the evangelist to urge 
upon those who are converted in his ministry to secure 
these books and read them. It seems to me that we 
have been very lax in this realm in the past, and that 
this very laxity has done untold harm to many of 
those who otherwise might have been strong, vigorous 
Christians. It is a frequent experience of the min- 
ister to find the works of the Adventists, and of many 
other fads, in the homes of those who are Christians 
only. They want to buy devotional books, but they 
are not guided in their selection, so that they become 
easy prey to those itinerant booksellers who have some 
fad to propagate. If we can get our new convert to 



366 New Testament Evangelism 

read the good books that have been written by our own 
people, we will do a great thing in stimulating his 
life to greater faithfulness and interest. It should 
also be the aim of the evangelist to persuade the new 
convert to subscribe for our great religious papers. 
It is almost an impossible thing to-day for a man to 
be a good citizen of the United States unless he reads 
the newspapers. In a government where the people 
have direct say, as they do in ours, it is an essential 
thing that the citizenship should be accurately in- 
formed on all those questions that have to do with 
the common weal. And how much more true is this 
principle when applied to the kingdom of God. A 
man will be a better Christian if he is acquainted 
with the ongoings of the church of Christ. Chris- 
tianity was never a local thing, although there are 
many who would make it so. It is universal in its 
aim and outlook, and a man to be truly a Christian 
must have that outlook, and must know and sympa- 
thize with that aim. How can this vision be secured 
except through the great papers which tell us the 
news? If we want to stimulate the missionary interest 
of the new convert, and in proportion as that interest 
is stimulated we will to hold him for the work, we 
must inform him about the missionary cause, we must 
tell him of the results which are being won for the 
King. Before the great World War there were but 
few Americans who knew much of France. How we 
have changed in this regard! To-day there are thou- 
sands who know the names of many of even the 
smallest villages. Our dead are there, and to many 
of us France has become a hallowed spot. When we 
can tell the convert of his loved ones across the seas 



Conserving the Convert 367 

who are proclaiming the glad news to those who have 
never heard it, we will increase his interest a hundred- 
fold. How can we arouse our people to a great evan- 
gelistic passion ? The answer is self-evident : through 
the great papers of the brotherhood. The very reading 
of the news from all over the country will make the 
convert more interested in the work of the church. 
As he learns of the plans being followed success- 
fully in other places, he will have a desire for the 
same plans to be tried in his own congregation. As 
he reads of a great Bible school in some other place, 
it will make him want his Bible school to be great 
also. I am firmly convinced that one of the absolutely 
essential things in the conservation of the convert is 
this dissemination of our literature into the homes. 
Many of those who are older in the service would 
profit largely if they also would follow this plan. 

(4) The evangelist should tie up the new convert 
to the church in a financial way. 

No man has done his work well, in holding a meet- 
ing, unless he has taught the Christian doctrine of 
stewardship. There is no better time in the life of a 
Christian to impress upon him the fact that he is 
merely a steward of the Lord, and that the things 
Avhich are his are in reality the Lord's, given to him 
to be used in the extension of the kingdom, than 
during those warm, wonderful hours of his early child- 
hood in the church. At the present time the great 
neglect of our fathers in this regard is being supplied 
in a splendid way. There never has been a time in 
our history when the doctrine of stewardship has 
received such consideration and emphasis as it is 
receiving to-day. ''Where a man's treasure is, there' 



368 New Testament Evangelism 

will his heart be also," is certainly true of the new 
convert. If the evangelist can get him to invest in 
the work of the Lord, he will have done a very per- 
manent thing for him. He will have tied him up 
with a bond that will not soon be broken. 

I am going to present to you in this connection 
a plan which I have found to be the best in this line 
that I have known. I have tried it myself many 
times, and I have never known it to fail. On the 
last Lord's Day of the campaign a meeting especially 
for the new converts is planned. A week, or even 
ten days, before this meeting takes place it should be 
announced. From then on until the actual time for it, 
these announcements should be repeated with force. 
Three or four days before the last day a letter should 
be sent to each of the new converts telling them of 
the meeting, and urging them to be there by all 
means. It is a good plan to have the new people 
seated together, and each one of them wearing some 
distinguishing badge, so that they may be readily 
recognized as new people in the church. At this meet- 
ing a special thank-offering should be taken. It will 
have been mentioned in the letter which has been sent 
out the week before, and accompanying that letter 
there should always be the special thank-offering 
envelope. The sermon of the hour should give a 
general view of the missionary and benevolent enter- 
prises of the church. Special attention also should 
be given to the educational side of the program. 
The duty of Christian giving should then be consid- 
ered. I have found it well always to dwell on giving 
as an investment in the kingdom, an investment which 
brings interest at the rate of a hundred per cent. 



Conserving the Convert 369 

The sacredness of the dollar, when invested in the 
saving of souls, is another presentation which always 
wins the approbation of all. At the close of the 
sermon it is well to hand out pledge-cards to all, and 
ask them then and there to sign them, giving so much 
to missions and benevolences, and so much to the 
regular work, or, better than all this, to have them 
sign up as tithers. Everything should be planned so 
that there may be no hitches in the plan, but that it 
may go off smoothly. There should be pencils for 
each one, so that those who want to sign immediately 
may do so. Now, it is always true that this is never 
a complete canvass. It is only the beginning, and 
must be followed up systematically, but it is always 
a good start, and the meeting and sermon will give 
those who make the canvass a fine foundation upon 
which to build when they go out to see those who 
have not pledged. Let me plead with you not to be 
afraid of the money question. The fact that we, as a 
people, have been so cheap in the past, is due to the 
lack of vision on the part of our ministry. They 
were so busy defending themselves in the great doc- 
trinal controversies which were then raging that they 
neglected this part of the instruction. Do not be 
afraid to preach the doctrine of stewardship, for it is 
as important as any other teaching of our Lord. 

II. Some Plans to Be Followed by the Pastor and 
THE Church after the Meeting Closes. 

It should be remembered that conservation is a big 
task. If the preacher is inadequate to that task, he 
should make way for some one who can do it. It is 
not the place of a New Testament evangelist to try 

24 



370 New Testament Evangelism 

to keep in the pulpit some minister who will let all 
results of a great meeting be lost simply because he 
does not possess the ambition and ''get-up" to work 
for their conservation. Frequently a great meeting 
has meant that such a pastor has been sloughed off, 
and it is certainly well for the cause that this hap- 
pened, for the pastorate is no place for a lazy man. 
Much loss has been occasioned also because of the fact 
that though the pastor was a good worker, yet he had 
no definite plans for holding those won. If he is in 
this condition, he should try to find out from those 
who have succeeded in other places the how of their 
success. 

(1) One of the first plans to be followed by both 
pastor and people is to make the services after the 
meeting as bright and interesting as they were during 
the meeting itself. 

There is too often a terrible slump after a great 
campaign. The local minister goes into the pulpit 
without any enthusiasm, and with a sermon but half 
prepared, and the contrast between his work and 
that of the meeting which has just closed is so great 
that the people are sickened and disappointed. A 
successful meeting ought to make the local pastor a 
better preacher than he was before. If it does not, 
he has not secured the right man for the work, or he 
has failed to grasp the opportunity which every effort 
affords for stimulating his sermonizing faculties. As 
far as possible the musical organization built up dur- 
ing the campaign, if such an organization is built up, 
should be retained for the regular services. The 
evening services especially should be made evangelistic 
so that the fire generated in the campaign may be 



Conserving the Convert 371 

kept brightly burning. If possible, frequent additions 
should be kept coming, for there is nothing which keeps 
the interest in the work at fever heat like visible 
results. Any man can get additions to the church of 
which he is minister if he is willing to go after them. 
I really have found myself coming to the place where 
I have but little patience with the man who says that 
he can not get additions to the church. If he is 
willing to go out and do personal work, he will have 
people coming to confess their faith in the Saviour, 
or to have fellowship with the church. 

The members of the church have a responsibility 
in the matter of making the services bright and inter- 
esting as well as the minister. If the new convert 
sees them losing interest in the work, it will not be 
strange if he follows their bad example and drops out 
of the services. As members of the kingdom of God, 
we can at least attend the services at the Lord's 
house. If we show that it is a vital thing in our 
lives, and that we are lost without it, we will have no 
difficulty in making others feel as we do about the 
church. If they see that we are loyal to the minister, 
and that we are backing him up in his labors with 
all our power, they will also fall in line, and we 
will find it easy to hold them for the Master. If, 
after a big meeting in the church of which you are a 
member, there is a slump in interest, do not hastily 
blame the minister until you have first proven that 
you and others in the church have been faithful. 

(2) The church must provide some social life for 
the new convert if it is to hold him. 

We have gone to the extreme in our desire to 
make the church building itself a holy place and a 



372 New Testament Evangelism 

house of worship. The modern mind is one which is 
inclined to the social atmosphere. If there is any- 
thing which is most decidedly a characteristic of the 
modern man, it is his love of companionship. Solitude 
bores him to distraction. There is a very fine pas- 
sage in a recent book of Professor Gardner, a part of 
which I wish to quote here. He is dealing with this 
attitude of the modern mind towards solitude: 

''The modem man can not long tolerate loneliness. 
If he becomes weary of the presence of man and the 
strain which that imposes, as he sometimes does, and 
finds his way into the solitudes to stand face to face 
with primeval nature, he may, for a few days, enjoy 
the silent gloom of the forest, or the solemn grandeur 
of the glens and crags, or the wild freedom of the 
waste of waters; but the loneliness which soon falls 
like lead upon his aching heart discloses the fact that 
the predominantly human environment to which he is 
accustomed has become to him the very breath of life. ' ' ^ 

If the church of the living God does not provide 
the social life which is so much desired by every 
modern man, he will find it elsewhere. He will asso- 
ciate with men, and we must, as Christians, see to it 
that he associates with Christian men. If the church 
will recognize this vital element in the life of the 
modern man, it will go far in holding the new convert. 
There are many social functions in which the church 
in its organizations can engage, such as class parties 
or banquets, Endeavor socials and the like. Wise is 
the pastor who knows how to lead in these things that 
he may keep the new people interested and happy in 
the new and strange relationship. 



'Psychology and Preaching," Gardner. 



Conserving the Convert 373 

(3) The pastor should visit the new members and 
get acquainted with them, that he may know some- 
thing of their home life, their problems and difficulties. 

In this way he gets a hold on their heartstrings^ 
that will be of great value in helping him to hold 
them in the work of the Lord. Of course, it is not 
always possible to do this, especially if there have 
been a large number added to the membership. The 
press of pastoral duties is so heavy, and the number 
of those duties is so great, that often it is absolutely 
impossible to get round the circle. Especially is this 
true if there are many, as there are in the average 
field to-day, who are not converted to Christ. In 
reality, it is the place of the minister to spend the 
major part of his time Avith those who are not Chris- 
tians. He is to convert men. How, then, is the flock 
to be cared for? There is an answer to this which 
is but little appreciated to-day, and yet it is the 
answer. The elders of the church must be organized 
so that they can care for these new members. The 
office of an elder or bishop is, indeed, a very impor- 
tant one. Is there any more important in the whole 
church than this? Yet in our modem church work 
we have delegated to the preacher the work which 
normally belongs to the elders. We have piled so 
many details upon him that he can scarcely breathe 
now, and the very work that he has been called to do 
is sadly neglected. Note again another virile pas- 
sage from Professor Gardner: 

"If we should try to define the occupation of the 
modern minister by reasoning inductively from the 
actual facts, we should find considerable difficulty. 
What a variety of things he is called upon to do! In 



374 New Testament Evangelism 

these later days he is supposed to be obliged to dabble 
in some way in almost everything that goes on. But, 
setting aside the faddiest notions that are current as a 
result of the idea, very true in itself, that the preacher 
should relate his work to all phases of life, we still 
have difficulty in making out exactly the range of the 
modem minister's legitimate activity. It is sometimes 
jestingly declared that, to meet the demands of a 
large congregation in a modern community, he must 
make more public addresses and of a vastly more varied 
character than a lawyer, read as much as a learned 
scholar, visit more people than a busy physician, 
exercise as much executive ability as the head of a 
great corporation, travel nearly as many miles as a 
'drummer,' cultivate as much tact and adaptability as 
a politician, and withal spend as much time in prayer 
and meditation as a saint. And there is almost as 
much truth as jest in the remark. No other occupa- 
tion demands the exercise of so great a variety of 
talents. Thinking upon this aspect of his work, one 
is tempted to say that he can be a specialist only in 
an indefinite sense of the word, if at all. Indeed, 
his function must be quite broadly defined, and yet, 
though broad in scope and varied in details, it is 
definite enough in principle. Ideally it is' to bring 
the whole message of Jesus to the whole life of men. 
It would seem, then, that his occupation is well 
adapted to develop a full and well-rounded person- 
ality, a broadly human type. This is quite true. 
He needs to know all truth as far as humanly possible; 
to meet and deal with all classes and conditions of 
men; to enter into intelligent sympathy with all 
human activities and varieties of character. Surely 



Conserving the Convert 375 

an occupation which is full of such varied demands 
and stimulations will mold a large and noble human 
type/'^ 

And yet, while we agree with Professor Gardner 
that this work will have the tendency to produce such 
a type of man, at the same time we are sensible of a 
great, and in one sense an alarming, danger. A 
multiplicity of duties so endlessly various, a knowl- 
edge of so many subjects, in many cases hastily 
acquired, tends to produce shallowness in thinking on 
the part of that very one who, above all others in 
the community, should be the leader of the thoughts 
of men. Have we not, therefore, by thrusting duties 
upon the minister which in reality belonged to the 
elders or bishops of the church, dissipated the very 
efficiency in him which we have so loudly demanded? 
Even the minister is a human being, though many 
of us have never recognized the fact, and is, like the 
rest of us, subject to human limitations. Have we 
not often blamed him for failures which have been the 
logical result of our own negligence in not providing 
him with the help that he deserves, and which it is 
our duty to render? I am personally convinced that 
this is true in the matter under discussion at this 
hour. To the bishops of the church of Christ belongs 
much of the labor of conservation, and, if that con- 
servation is not accomplished, the fault lies at their 
doors. 

How may the bishops be organized so that they 
can assist the minister in caring for the new members 
of the congregation? There are several ways in which 
this organization may be completed. First of all, it 



'Psychology and Pre«clun£," Gardner. 



376 New Testament Evangelism 

may be made along occupational lines. All those, for 
instance, who have come into the church from the 
business district of the town or community could be 
cared for by a bishop who himself is a business man. 
As a rule, he associates with these very men in the 
various organizations of the business world — its clubs, 
conventions, etc. It will be a comparatively easy 
thing, therefore, for him to keep in constant touch 
with these people. If they are absent from the ser- 
vices of the church, he can find the reason. If there 
should be sickness in the home, he can immediately 
inform the minister of the fact. The same principle 
applies to the life of the farmer. A bishop who is 
himself a farmer could very nicely attend to the 
spiritual supervision of those who are in the same 
occupation. His work is such that it frequently 
throws him in contact with the very people who are 
in his care. Thus that work is made easier, and the 
whole plan will be found to run more smoothly. 

Another plan which may be followed successfully is 
to organize the people of the flock in districts, with 
an elder over each district. Care should be taken 
that these districts are not too extensive for one man 
to look after a comparatively limited number of 
people. If the districts are of necessity too large for 
one man, he can be the captain, and under him can 
be several deacons, whose business it is to look after 
a certain number of families. If this plan is followed, 
it will be found that it is an easy thing to care for 
the new members until they are old enough in the 
service to care for themselves. Whatever the plan 
may be, it should be remembered that each bishop 
should have the names and addresses of his people, 



Conserving the Convert 377 

and should know just who they are. If it is found 
that a bishop to whom this work has been intrusted 
is not doing that work, he should be displaced by one 
who will do it. We need elders to-day who, in the 
language of a certain middle- West preacher, will 
''eld," and deacons who will ''deak." It has often 
seemed to me that we need all over our great brother- 
hood a critical study of the question which was one 
time proposed at a certain Southern convention of 
churches of Christ, ''What must the official board do 
to be saved?" 

(4) One other plan vital to successful conservation 
of the convert is one which will have consideration for 
those who are constantly moving from place to place. 

It is a sad fact that there are thousands of our 
people who are never members of but one local con- 
gregation. They move from that church to some other 
community, and never become identified with the 
church in their new place of abode. It does not seem 
like the old home church to them, and it is not long 
until they have dropped out of the work altogether. 
This problem of the unidentified Christian is so vast 
that it is not within the province of the present work 
to give it a full treatment. It is deserving of notice, 
however, from the standpoint of our present study. 
Much of this loss might be prevented before it occurs. 
I mean by this statement that before the people ever 
leave for a new location they can be so taught that 
they will want to enter the church as soon as they 
move. Again, they may be so cared for by the home 
folks after they leave, that it will be the natural and 
normal thing for them to identify themselves with the 
new congregation as soon as they get to the new home. 



378 New Testament Evangelism 

I am certain that we, as ministers, have failed to 
teach people their duty regarding the transfer of their 
membership as we ought to teach them. When they 
leave the old home, unless they are identified with the 
church, they are practically lost to the work. They 
may send back their contributions to the old church 
for awhile, but it is not long until they lose interest. 
That minister who does not teach his people that 
it is their duty to identify themselves with the new 
church, and as soon as they arrive at the new home, 
is remiss in his work and duty as a minister of Christ. 
Not only so, but there should be a standing committee 
of those who will see to it that a letter is immediately 
sent to the minister of the church in the community 
to which these people are journeying. Many of those 
who are lost to the work through removal are lost 
purely because of neglect on the part of the church 
from which they come. Every church should appoint 
this committee, and see that it functions. It is often 
a good plan to send the church letter to the minister 
himself, instead of trusting it to the care of the 
people who are moving. 

(5) One other very important thing which should 
be considered here is the necessity of keeping all 
skeletons hidden from the new converts if we would 
hold them in church. 

It is wrong, of course, for there to be skeletons, 
but, if there are, keep them out of sight. I remember 
one church quite well, in which there had at one time 
been a great fight among the members. It was a 
difficult thing for some of them to forget it, though 
they had had a meeting in which the matter was 
supposed to have been threshed out and settled. After 



Conserving the Convert 379 

the great evangelistic meeting had been held some of 
these folks persisted in telling the new members all 
about the matter, and in doing this they killed the 
new life which had begun so gloriously in the hearts 
of many of them. How shortsighted and foolish is 
this unforgiving attitude. One who has long served 
the Master may be able to stand trouble of this kind, 
but to the "new convert such an experience is absolutely 
fatal. Let the new^ life grow in a warm, loving atmos- 
phere, remembering that those who have come are babes 
in Christ, and that they must be cared for as babes. 

(6) It is always a fine plan to get the new convert 
interested as much as possible in personal work. 

This is not, as a rule, very difficult, because of the 
fact that he is already somewhat interested in others, 
and in their salvation. He has seen others brought 
to the Master, perhaps, in the same effort in which 
he was converted. He has gone to some of them, and 
has pleaded with them to accept Christ, and partake 
of the joy which has been his in his own surrender 
and the life he has been living. Now, it is good to 
keep this evangelistic fire burning as long as possible. 
Many slumps have occurred after a great meeting 
simply because the minister did not realize that one 
of the most certain ways to keep not only the new 
members interested, but the older ones as well, was to 
keep converts coming into the church. Frequently 
it is a good thing to organize a personal workers' 
class among the new converts themselves, and in this 
class make a scientific study of the methods of per- 
sonal work, and all those things pertaining to the 
blessed experience of leading men to the knowledge 
of the Saviour. There will come thus a benefit not 



380 New Testament Evangelism 

only from the standpoint of the education in this 
much-needed work, but also in the number of souls 
which will be brought into the church of God. After 
all, it is only another application of that much- 
discussed and well-known principle that the way to 
hold a man for good is to give him some good work 
to do. Let us resolve not to be satisfied because we 
have brought men and women down the aisles to con- 
fess their faith in the Saviour of the world. Let us 
not feel that all our duty has been done if we 
can induce those who come to go down into the 
waters and obey their Lord in baptism. It is ours 
not only to bring men to Christ, but also to develop 
Christian character. If we fail in the latter, have we 
aot failed in alU 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

To those who would make a further study of New 
Testament evangelism, the following books are sug- 
gested : 

I. Evangelistic Sermons. 

"The Gospel Plan of Salvation" Brents. 

"The Gospel Preacher" (2 Vols.) Franklin. 

"The Commission Executed" Zollars. 

' ' The King of Kings ' ' Zollars. 

' ' The Deity of Jesus ' '.. Kellems. 

"Thirty Years on the Firing-line" Martin. 

* ' Soul-saving Revival Sermons ' ' „ _ Brandt. 

"Acts of the Holy Spirit" _ „ Moore. 

' * Sermons ' ' McGarvey. 



II. Works on Doctrinal Subjects. 

"Campbell-Rice Debate." 

' ' The Christian System ' ' Campbell. 

• ' First Principles ' ' _ „Davis. 

' ' First Principles ' ' Errett. 

"How to Master the Bible" Gray. 

' * The Restoration Handbook ' ' Kershner. 

' ' The Early Church ' ' Horton. 

"Greatest Thoughts about the Bible" Lawson. 

"A Guide to Bible Study" McGarvey. 

"The Church of Christ" By a Layman. 

* ' On the Lord 's Day ' ' Lord. 

381 



382 New Testament Evangelism 

** Commentary on Acts'* McGarvey. 

* * New Testament Church ' ' Moninger . 

* ' New Testament Names ' ' Ryan. 

**The Form of Baptism" „ Briney. 

' ' The Lord 's Supper ' ' _ Brandt. 

* ' Christian Baptism ' ' -Campbell. 

' ' The Holy Spirit ' ' _ Sweeney. 

III. New Testament Evangelism and the Bible 

School. 

"How Can I Lead My Pupils to Christ?" Pell. 

' * Educational Evangelism ' ' ..._ McKinley. 

** Training for Service" Moninger. 

**The Sunday School as a Soul-winner" „ Hurlbut. 

** Plans for Sunday School Evangelism" Brown. 

IV. Works on Psychology and Preaching. 

**The Psychology of Religion" Snowden. 

' * Psychology and Preaching ' ' Gardner. 

''The Psychology of Religion" Starbuck. 

"Varieties of Religious Experience," "The Will to 

Believe" and "Principles of Psychology "......James. 

* ' The Spiritual Life ' ' Coe. 

"The Study of Religion" Jastrow. 

"The Psychology of Christian Experience" Clark. 

"Yale Lectures on Preaching" Beecher, Brooks, 

Burton, Taylor, Simpson, Hall and Robinson. 
"The Psychological Phenomena of Christianity" 

_. ; „ Cuttin. 

' ' Christian Psychology ' ' Stalker. 

"The Work of Preaching" Hoyt. 

"Vital Elements of Preaching" Hoyt. 



Bibliographical Notes 383 

V 

"Effective Public Speaking and the Essentials of 

Effective Gesture" Mosher. 

**How to Use the Voice "„„. Ott. 

V. GENERAii Evangelistic Works. 



<{ 



Training for Personal Evangelism" Harrison. 

* ' Training for Soul-winning ' ' Violette. 

' ' Campaigning for Christ ' ' Coombs. 

* ' Christian Evangelism ' ' Coombs. 

** Winning One at a Time" „ Camp. 

"How to Bring Men to Christ" Torrey. 

* ' Catching Men Alive ' ' „ Trumbull. 

* * Methods in Soul-winning ' ' „ Mabie. 

* ' Evangelistic Preaching ' ' Davis. 

VI. Gospel Music. 

"Choir and Chorus Conducting" Wodell. 

"Song Stories of the Sawdust Trail" Rodeheaver. 

"Musical Ministries in the Church" Pratt. 



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